Ryan Evans ignores ex-partner Mark Allen before a grudge match at the British Open | snooker

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Any idea that the most unusual grudge match in snooker history would fail to live up to the pre-match billing was dispelled before the ball was even set to bottom. Snooker has had its fair share of eagerly anticipated confrontations lately but none have had a background and subplot quite like this. In the end, the match provided just as much drama.

How big snooker owner Barry Hearn and a lover of any unflattering move that generates publicity smiled when Ryan Evans turned down Mark Allen’s offer of a handshake before the end of his first round match at the British Open in Leicester. There is, of course, more way to this story than ranking points, prize money or face-to-face meetings at the table, but even that lit up the tactile paper in a way no one could have imagined.

Bringing Allen and Evans together was by far the notable tie in the first round, given the fact that they had a relationship that ended sharply in 2008 and have a 14-year-old daughter together. There has certainly never been a personal match like this in any sport, let alone snooker.

However, this goes deeper than that. Allen never imagined he would be in this position earlier this year, when Evans was kicked out of the Crucible’s practice area while preparing for a game and Evans was working as an analyst. Perhaps that was the moment that helped make Evans the favorite for fans on Monday night.

Some described Evans as the “bitter ex-partner” of World No. 12 in the lead up to this match. But this greatly detrimental to her contribution to snooker, particularly the women’s game, where she was a 12-time world champion and recently earned a two-year tour ticket in the professional ring as a well-deserved reward for her dominance.

Her raucous fan base made this feel like a world championship match at times, with vivid memories of the kind of raucous support Steve Davis received at Crucible during the ’80s. She even had to tell them to calm down after the second frame here, when she equalized 1-1 after Allen took the opening frame.

But in the end, it was Allen who last laughed—though at one point he was staring down the orifice of Evans’ elimination. After making a 2-1 lead in a best of five game, Evans then moved into just one pot for the win. She was ahead 60-0 and needed another red to make the headlines. But she shook badly in the pocket untie.

To Allen’s credit, the clearance that followed sending the match into a decisive frame was of a high quality. Then he kept his nerve in the decisiveness, and Evans didn’t give a sniff with his 68 break. I fought in hopes of getting the three snooker players needed to create a slice of snooker history that seemed inevitable just minutes ago. But in the end it was useless. Unsurprisingly, there was no handshake at the end of the match.

I sensed that if Evans had won here, there would have been wild celebrations. Perhaps not from her, but from those present who were very eager to see her on the right side of this wonderful personal battle.

However, Allen was not interested in that. I felt he was relieved to have him in the next round and maybe put this to bed. If they meet again sometime in the future, you can bet he’ll have to go through all over again.

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