TOURNAMENT MC Mark Johnston-Allen chose to make an apologetic gesture to leading referee Leo Scullion before the Saturday BetVictor Welsh Open semi-final between Ding Junhui and Joe Perry.
The day before Bristolian Johnston-Allen, taking over the pre-match duties with Rob Walker involved at the Winter Olympics in Sochi for the early part of the tournament, had omitted to call the Scot into the arena, ahead of announcing Ding and teenager Joel Walker before their quarter-final.
But quick to make amends the two-time European Open runner-up went down on bended knee at the Newport Centre and asked for forgiveness from a laughing Scullion.
Johnston-Allen is perhaps best known for having a 100 per cent (3-0) winning record against legend and seven-time world d champion Stephen Hendry, including a 5-0 win at the 1991 European Open. After the last of the three losses, a 5-4 defeat on the black, Hendry famously said: “He shouldn’t even be in the same room as me.”
Photographs by Monique Limbos