Mark Allen has asked fans to recommend a warm European country for a much-needed holiday after a “disappointing” defence of his Players Championship title. The Northern Irishman was beaten by world champion Kyren Wilson in the first round at the Telford International Centre.

Allen was unhappy with his performance but credited Wilson for capitalising on the opportunity to progress to the quarter-finals. Wilson led 3-1 after the first session and went on to win 6-3 after being pegged back to 3-3 by Allen. The latter needed to win to have a chance of qualifying for the Tour Championship and his next tournament will come at the World Championship, which begins on April 19.

Allen posted on X: “Disappointed to put up a poor defence of my Players Championship title but credit to @KyrenWilson. He was just too sharp and thoroughly deserved his win. Plenty of time for me now to get ready for the World Championships.”

In a second post, the 39-year-old asked his followers: “Anywhere warm in Europe currently for a little break away? Heads [sic] melted.”

Wilson will play Mark Williams in the quarter-final. The 33-year-old has been in tremendous form since his World Championship triumph a year ago. He heads into next month’s tournament as one of the favourites and believes the pressure has been lifted by his previous success.

"I’ve thrived from being World Champion and I’ve enjoyed all of this season. It has just given me so much confidence and it hasn’t been a burden on me,” Wilson said.

"When you carry that confidence, you can transfer it onto the table and you can almost transfer it into your opponent’s minds.

"I feel like I’ve done that a lot this season. If you cower away in events against these top players then they will eat you alive. I’m pleased with how I managed to handle it. I feel like I’m getting a free hit at tournaments now as I’ve won the biggest of them all.

"Nothing will ever compare to [winning the world title], but when you get a hunger for winning you want to do it more."

Wilson defeated Jak Jones in last year’s World Championship final but has handed the trophy back to the WST ahead of his attempts to defend it in April.