Two-time UK champion Selby loses in first round

Former world number one Mark Allen admitted his game "is not in a good place" after an "awful" performance as he battled to a 6-4 win over Jackson Page in the opening round of the UK Championship.

Northern Ireland's Allen, who won the tournament two years ago, only made one break of 50 against 23-year-old Page, a player 41st in the rankings and in his first last-32 match at the UK Championship.

"It wasn't fun to be part of that match," said Allen. "I'm just playing like that all the time and it's hard to put my finger on why, that's the frustrating thing.

"I got the job done and that's pretty much it, it was awful. I'm not in a good place with my game, everything else is fine but with snooker I'm just struggling.

"I'm probably trying too hard, I just needed to give 100 per cent on every shot and nothing is coming easy for me."

Allen reached the top of the world rankings for the first time in his career after the World Championship in May, before he was replaced by Judd Trump at the end of August.

Now third in the world, the 38-year-old has reached two semi-finals in 2024-25, losing to Mark Selby at the British Open in September and against Xiao Guodong in the Champion of Champions earlier this month.

Welshman Page led 3-2 but Allen, an 11-time ranking event winner, made his experience count as he won four of the next five frames to clinch victory.

However, Allen, who plays either China's Si Jiahui or Wu Yize in the last 16, was left bemused by his lack of form.

"I'm doing all the things that got me to world number one, working really hard on the practice table but it's not coming easy," he added. "I'm hoping one performance turns it around but I feel a million miles away from that.

"Jackson is a brilliant talent but not very experienced on the big stage so I thought I would take advantage of that and it nearly backfired.

"It's not fun, I'm not going to lie - I couldn't enjoy any part of that match. It's unsettling given how much I practice, and considering how hard I've been working. I'm probably not as far as I think I am, I'm my worst critic."

In the other match in the afternoon session, England's Ali Carter defeated Welshman Ryan Day 6-4.

Carter has twice lost in the semi-finals of the UK Championship, but had not won a match in the later stages of the tournament since his 9-8 loss to Shaun Murphy in the final four in 2012.

"It's all about getting a win," said Carter. "Wins have been hard to come by of late and it has zapped my confidence. It was hard work from start to finish.

"I found the table was quite heavy and to screw back was quite different, but you have to play on whatever the table is like.

"I've had some good times here, but mostly terrible ones. I was 8-4 up in the [2012] semi-finals against Shaun Murphy and that went wrong 9-8 and I've not had too much success since then.

"Everything is so dependent on doing well in the big ranking events. I've not had a good run here for a long time so let's hope it leads to one this year."