Mark Allen is set to return to competitive snooker for the first time in six months at the Northern Ireland Open.This is the snooker star’s home tournament, but Allen hasn’t played since being at The Crucible in May.Allen is one of the best players on the tour and fans will be delighted to have him backGettyThe Northern Irishman made the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield but was dumped out by Wu Yize.The Chinese superstar went on to claim the title in the final.And since then, the 40-year-old has pulled out of various competitions.There has never been a specific one thing for it all, with every withdrawal listed as ‘personal reasons’.However, he is back in professional snooker and has been drawn against his good friend Jordan Brown in the opening round.Brown was asked about Allen’s return with the three-time World Snooker Championship semi-finalist looking to claim the Northern Ireland Open for a third time in his career.He said: “I can’t really comment too much on it, but all I do know is he is doing okay. I’ve been checking in on him.“I honestly don’t know if he’s going to play or not. If he does play it will be great for the local crowd. It’ll be great to see him back playing, we all want to see him back.”Allen’s rest might set him up nicely for the Triple Crown eventsGettyAnd Judd Trump has echoed those statements as well.Speaking about Allen recently, he said: “It’s hard to comment because I don’t think many of us know what’s happening.“Obviously, I’d imagine he’d like to be playing. But until we know…I don’t know the reason why he’s not (playing).“I’m sure it’s serious. I think all of us would like him to be back playing again.“Because obviously he went very close in the World Championship and he’s a great player.“Whenever someone’s kind of missing, you always want everyone to be at perfect health and stuff like that.”Mark Allen’s careerThe Pistol turned professional in 2005 and has gone on to become one of the best British players.He will certainly go down as one of the greatest Northern Ireland has ever produced.The only man who is arguably better is Alex Higgins.But Allen’s career has been more than impressive.Allen suffered a devastating defeat to Yize in May losing a final frame decider and hasn’t been seen sinceGettyHe has recorded five professional 147 breaks and over 700 centuries.The Snooker World Championship has evaded him as yet, but he’s won the UK Championship and The Masters.He is currently 12th in the world rankings and what makes his achievements to date even more impressive is that he is actually partially colour blind.