MARK ALLEN lived up to his Pistol nickname as he shot down Adrian Gunnell in the williamhill.com UK Snooker Championship first round – and then turned his fire on World Snooker chief Barry Hearn.

The world number 14 launched a stinging attack on Hearn for tinkering with the format of the game’s second-biggest ranking tournament at York’s Barbican.

Matches in the UK Championship have been trimmed from best-of-17 frames to best-of-11 and 25-year-old Allen said it was a further indication that “the players don’t matter”.

The Northern Ireland ace claimed the tradition of snooker was “going to pot” under chairman Hearn’s 18-month stewardship.

He said: “I think it’s disgusting. When Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the World Championship, the UK and the Masters would not be touched.

“Only 18 months later, the format here has changed. Anyone (players) who voted for him has only got themselves to blame. I wasn’t one of them.”

Asked whether he thought the World Championship format would be next to be altered, Allen said: “No doubt. Barry’s there to make money for himself.

“The tradition of the game is going to pot. It is not all about bringing people in to drink and roar. He needs to get away from the darts factor.

“What is the answer? Get rid of Barry. In the long run he will do good for snooker, but not in my generation.”

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The action on the baize was not nearly as explosive as 12th seed Allen won a mistake-ridden first-round encounter 6-3 against world number 63 Gunnell.

Telford-based qualifier Gunnell spurned a host of gilt-edged chances to put Allen under pressure, meaning his Antrim-based opponent rarely needed to summon his best form to book a second-round meeting with Ali Carter tomorrow night.

Allen quickly went 2-0 in front with breaks of 77 and 56, capitalising on errors from a nervy Gunnell on each occasion.

A 58 break laid the foundations for Gunnell’s third-frame win, but he then passed up two good opportunities before leaving Allen in for a 91 break to take the fourth.

After the interval, Allen cruised 4-1 up with a run of 73, but after that the game degenerated into a miss-a-thon as the pair traded poor quality frames.

Allen, a beaten semi-finalist last year, admitted he gave Gunnell too many chances, but said he felt confident he had the game to see off Carter in the next round.

“I watched Ali’s first game and he didn’t seem to play too well,” he said.