Mark Allen v Reanne Evans live stream: British Open 2021 preview – Ex partners face grudge clash

Jamie Shaw in British Open 16 August 2021

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John Higgins makes a majestic maximum break at the British Open

Reanne Evans in action (Photo by Tim Goode/PA Archive/PA Images)

Mark Allen takes on his ex-partner Reanne Evans in a highly-anticipated First Round clash at the 2021 British Open in Leicester on Monday.

One of the stand-out ties in the season’s second ranking event sees world number 12 Allen take on 12-time Women’s World Champion Evans just months after the pair were involved in a bitter dispute during the World Championship.

It will be their first competitive meeting to date, with Evans having been handed a two-year wildcard to join the professional circuit as of this season.

Allen and Evans were in a relationship between 2005 and 2008, with their daughter Lauren born in 2006.

Prior to his First Round match at the World Championship in April, Allen requested for Evans to be removed from the practice room at The Crucible whilst she was preparing for a punditry stint for the BBC.

Following discussions between World Snooker and the broadcaster, Evans was asked to leave by tournament officials and reluctantly agreed.

The WPBSA confirmed they had received a complaint about the incident and investigated the circumstances.

Allen and Evans had been involved in a dispute over maintenance payments for their daughter, with Allen also going through divorce proceedings with estranged wife Kyla McGuigan – with whom he has another young daughter.

The former Masters Champion has racked up career earnings of around £3.3 million, but recently declared himself bankrupt and in April he vowed to take a break from the sport for personal reasons.

Allen returned to action in the season-opening Championship League, losing 3-1 to David Gilbert in the final following a series of impressive displays and ten century breaks along the way.

Evans, who was made an MBE in 2020 for her services to women’s snooker, began life as a main tour professional with two draws and a defeat, finishing bottom of her group in Phase One of the Championship League beneath Tom Ford, Simon Lichtenberg and Simon Blackwell.

The 35-year-old does have experience of beating a male in professional competition, having dispatched Robin Hull in the 2017 World Championship qualifiers.

She also took former World Champion Shaun Murphy to a seventh-frame decider in the opening round of the 2019 Champion of Champions before being narrowly edged out.

The match gets under way from around 8pm BST at the Morningside Arena and will be contested over the best of five frames.

It will be available to watch live on desktop, mobile and tablet devices for fans in various regions worldwide.