MarkAllen

Mark Allen holds thirteenth place in the world snooker rankings and has made 704 century breaks going into the current campaign. Twelve ranking titles sit alongside that haul. The Antrim cueist still reaches the closing stages of ranking events, the form that keeps him inside the game's elite.

The defining stage came when he climbed to the top of the world rankings and held that position from May to August. Those months are the peak against which everything since is measured, and the task now is to find that level again.

When he competes, the things worth tracking are his position in the rankings and whether his century tally keeps climbing. Those markers say more about his form than any single match result, and they are the numbers fans check first.