Snooker: Mark Allen misses out on six-figure bonus after final Home Nations event
Mark Allen narrowly missed out on a six-figure paycheque after finishing second in the highest money earner in the 2025/26 BetVictor Home Nations Series.
The Antrim cueist put himself into a strong position to finish top of the standings and land the £150,000 bonus after winning the English Open in Brentwood at the start of the series, before reaching the semi-final stage in both Northern Ireland and Scotland, bringing his tally to a total of £142,000.
However, he was knocked out of the first round of last week’s Welsh Open by David Grace, opening the door for four others to clinch top spot.
Before play got under way, Allen could only be caught by Chris Wakelin, Jack Lisowski, Zhou Yuelong or Chang Bingyu, who all needed to reach at least the final in Llandudno.
As fate would have it, Lisowski reached Sunday’s final and scooped the bonus, despite losing in the showpiece decider to Barry Hawkins.
Allen at least tried to see the funny side of his misfortune as he posted on X: “Not sure I’m ever gonna win that bonus. 4th time in 6 years I’ve been 2nd”.
Previous winners in the series rankings across the four events are Judd Trump in 2020, 2021 and 2024, John Higgins in 2022, Robert Milkins in 2023 and Neil Robertson in 2025.