There has been a lot of buzz around 23-year-old Mark Allen from Northern Ireland lately. This young, upcoming star became professional only four years ago and despite his age,

Allen has already had a very impressive career. He is currently number 11th in the world rankings and on his record you’ll find a last 16 placement in the World Championship, a semi-final in the Northern Ireland Trophy, a quarter-final in the China Open and a victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan that took him to the quarter-finals in the World Championship. With all of the above and a Jiangsu Classic victory to boot, Allen has every reason to be proud.

But this natural-born talent has had some serious mood issues in the past. The Northern Ireland team banned him from the Pontin’s for banging his cue, hitting the table and behaving rudely to other people. In the 2007 Aberdeen Grand Prix, Allen took out his anger on the snooker table again.

He was warned by the referee but replied with cuss words which in turn resulted in Ken Doherty calling him “a disgrace” after the match. Doherty was later blamed for being a bad loser by Allen since he had recently lost to him.

But let’s hope Allen doesn’t forget that snooker is a gentleman’s sport. Temper tantrums are probably looked upon more seriously in snooker than in other sports and can lead to tournament bans. Besides, they might affect the game negatively.

After all, big snooker stars like Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis always seemed to be able to maintain their composure throughout the most trying situations. If Allen can learn from the legends, he might be able to reach his full potential. If he can avoid future bans, who knows how far he can go?

Watch out for Allen in the 2010 Masters. Last year he made it all the way from the wildcard position to the quarter-final. This time around he’s in the top 16 and is therefore automatically qualified for the tournament. His first match will be against John Higgins.