BBC presenter Hazel Irvine apologised after Mark Allen missed a match-winning black against Wu Yize in a dramatic World Snooker Championship semi-final, leaving the Northern Irishman with a painful reminder of his Crucible heartbreak
Hazel Irvine during the World Snooker Championship coverage(Image: 2026 Getty Images)
BBC presenter Hazel Irvine issued a live on-air apology to Mark Allen during the World Championship final. It came amid Shaun Murphy’s clash with Wu Yize, after the Chinese player had beaten Allen in the semi-final to book his place in his very first Crucible final.
Things could have looked very different had Allen potted what would have been a match-winning black to clinch a 17-15 victory. However, the extraordinary miss handed the frame to Wu, who went on to win the decider and triumph 17-16.
The defeat means Allen’s pursuit of a maiden World Championship final appearance goes on for at least another year. Following a highlights package of this year’s tournament aired during the Murphy vs Wu interval, Irvine simply couldn’t bring herself to watch the missed shot all over again.
Speaking on the BBC’s coverage after a montage of the tournament’s most memorable moments, the Scottish presenter said: “Nicely done Steve [Bracknall] aka Chris McClure, stage name, really genius stuff there. I still cannot watch Mark Allen’s missed black, I am really sorry Mark. But the grace in which he took that was extraordinary, wasn’t it?”
Mark Allen suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the semi-finals(Image: Getty)
John Parrott chipped in: “Unbelievable. If you are watching pal, I am still hurting for you. I am absolutely am, I have never seen anything like it.” Allen was unlikely to have witnessed the agonising moment from home, but the Northern Irishman faced the music after the loss, admitting: “You don’t deserve to be in the world final if you’re missing balls like that
“That was just pure pressure to be honest. Normally I’m pretty good under the pressure but just didn’t handle it well today. I was probably more nervous at different stages of the match than I was on that black.
“I just threw a quick one in, I genuinely did. I just didn’t deliver the cue properly and I got what I deserved when you miss a black like that to win the match. I had two, three chances to close out the match and didn’t do it. But credit to Wu.”
He added: “The final frame was another opportunity to win. I was fine going into it – win the next frame, that’s what I always say. I was a little unlucky when I potted the pink, split the reds but didn’t land on anything.
“But I had more than enough chances to win. At the end of the match, I just wished Wu good luck and said he played very well. I think he’s going to be a world champion.”
Wu did indeed go on to win the world title, beating Shaun Murphy 18-17 in a dramatic final frame shoot off.