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Money talks so Allen may have to refrain ©INPHO/Getty Images
Snookered

Burying hatchets: Barry Hearn and Mark Allen resolve differences

Snooker’s big cheese has suggested the Northern Irishman now sees sense after their falling out.

LAST MONTH MARK Allen called for Barry Hearn to resign believing the format changes made to the UK Championship meant the sport was becoming increasingly like darts, Hearn’s other interest.

The WPBSA Chairman hit back, witheringly referring to Allen as a ‘silly little boy’ and, after holding clear-the-air talks yesterday, Hearns was no less condescending about the Antrim native.

“We had a good meeting and the chat we had was good at opening his mind as to where he wants to be,” Hearn told the BBC.

“Does he want to be a superstar in an ever-expanding global sport, or does he want to go back to billiard halls and snooker parlours and eke out a living?”

Allen may yet reveal his own take on the meeting (his last Tweet was on Saturday) but Hearn offered no indication that it was anything other than cold hard cash that “opened his mind.”

“Mark’s prize money this year is probably double what he’s earned in the last couple of years so I must be doing something right. We had a very frank and friendly exchange of views and in the end I think he saw my point of view, but time will tell.”

Indeed it will.

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