An emotional Mark Allen talked about retirement after losing on his competitive return on home soil at the 2026 Northern Ireland Open.

Allen was defeated by close friend and practise partner Jordan Brown, 4-2, at the Waterfront Hall on Tuesday in Belfast in the £550,400 world ranking event.

Former world number one Allen had not played on the World Snooker Tour since his agonising 17-16 defeat to Wu Yize in the semi-finals of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre in early May.

The 40-year-old has withdrawn from several big tournaments this season citing personal issues, but made his comeback in his home professional event where he faced the only other Northern Irish cueist left in the main draw, Brown. Shortly before action commenced, the two Antrim stars embraced in a hug by the table.

placeholder image — Mark Allen is considering his future after losing in the first round of the Northern Ireland Open on Tuesday.

In a match that meant so much for both players, there was little fluency on show but plenty of drama with several close frames.

171 days on from his last top-flight outing, Allen took the opening frame on the colours and looked like countering in the second from 50 points adrift before missing a black from its spot with one red remaining. Brown levelled up, and went 2-1 in front after claiming frame three on the final black.

Back-to-back frames would be decided on the final ball, as former Masters and UK Champion Allen showed his class with a clearance of 35 to pinch the fourth by a single point and restore parity at 2-2.

However, it was world number 65 and former Welsh Open champion Brown - who is battling to avoid tour relegation at the end of this season - who found a flow in the closing stages as breaks of 53 and 80 sent him to a 4-2 win.

A quarter-finalist here last year - where he was stopped by Allen - Brown faces Michael Holt in the last 32 after he saw off Zhou Yuelong, 4-1, during the same session.

In a raw and hard-to-watch live post-match interview with Rachel Casey on TNT Sports, Allen cut a struggling figure who is now seriously considering retirement from the sport.

On his return to the green baize, Allen said: "Not good...I'm in a bad place at the minute. Even just to go out there and try was tough.

"I think if I wasn’t playing Jordan I wouldn’t have come back. I felt like, if I was going to play one last time, playing here at the Waterfront where it all started in 2005, against one of my best mates I thought that was a better way to sign out.

"I’ve been flooded with support but the problems are within. I just don’t see a future for snooker, if I’m honest.

"It’s sad to say because it’s all I’ve loved to do since I was 12. The last few months have been really difficult and it’s sort of put snooker into perspective for me. At the minute I’m just trying to survive."

Allen withdrew from the International Championship qualifiers a few weeks ago and has not qualified for next month’s Champion of Champions, so if he was to play again, it wouldn’t be until the UK Championship - an accolade he won four years ago - towards the end of November/start of December.