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Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby N_Castle07

I’m a strong believer that Hearn should take the World Championship to China. The tournament has been great in Sheffield which a lot of fans think it should remain there. However I feel they are a bit biased of the UK and are stuck in there ways and are traditionalists (this was the problem of the old WSA.) The UK will always be the home of snooker and I’m sure Hearn will add many more events in this country. China has massive snooker potential and I think the prize money would shoot through the roof with many Chinese sponsors biding to sponsor the World Championship. It does course problems tho with the time difference to the UK viewers, if this problem was solved then I think it could be a winner.

Your thoughts

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Rocket_ron

i never know what to say on this subject....i love the wc being in sheffield. buts its the world championship so it should be like the football worldcup be staged around the world.
so to move it to just china in my mind is pointless, but move it all around the world is my opinion

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby N_Castle07

Very good point rocket ron very good. That is a similar view to what Hendry wants too. He stated he would like to see the worlds in different venues similar to the golf majors. I fear as the comments add up on this topic that we are going to see a lot of people wanting it to stay at Sheffield (UK.) We all want snooker to be globalized so we should be prepared for our biggest event to travel.

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Rocket_ron

N_Castle07 wrote:Very good point rocket ron very good. That is a similar view to what Hendry wants too. He stated he would like to see the worlds in different venues similar to the golf majors. I fear as the comments add up on this topic that we are going to see a lot of people wanting it to stay at Sheffield (UK.) We all want snooker to be globalized so we should be prepared for our biggest event to travel.

yes as this thread builds, it going to be a very interesting read <ok>

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Casey

I think China should be given a major first, test the water if you like. Whilst snooker is very popular in China this does not transpire to attendances for the events. Often there are many empty seats at both events.

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Monique

There are many empty seats in the front rows indeed. When the camera pans over the rear rows you can often see a bit more of a crowd. Thing is the price of the tickets is so high compared to the earnings of the average chinese worker it's a real problem.

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Casey

Monique wrote:There are many empty seats in the front rows indeed. When the camera pans over the rear rows you can often see a bit more of a crowd. Thing is the price of the tickets is so high compared to the earnings of the average chinese worker it's a real problem.


Yes and unfortunately for the World Championships they would probably make the tickets even more expensive. What about moving the World Championships to London? Big capacity’s and big crowds

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Witz78

Im all for world expansion of the game but i think the infrastructure should properly be put in place first before we can really call the sport a global one, at which point it will then be appropriate to host the Worlds around the world.

An Eastern rival / feeder tour to supplement the current main tour should be the first step to accomodate the massive amount of Chinese players by giving them top level snooker on their doorstep, satisfy the demand from the Chinese for snooker, allow these players to be built up into superstars. A major held over in China whilst this happens would be a first step.

The infrastructure and profile of snooker in mainland Europe, North and South America and Australia also has to be tapped into and progressed as a priority too.

For me taking the Worlds to China at this moment in time, would be no more than a token gesture to gloss over the reality that snooker is a million miles behind other sports like tennis and golf, in terms of global appeal.

Im a bit of a traditionalist at times, though im also keen to welcome change too, but the history of the Crucible makes it hard to imagine any World Championship played elsewhere really seeming like the main event.

And with Hearn in charge, im a fan of him and have total confidence he will improve things significantly and boost the sport again, but considering he wont even take his Darts Premier League to Holland for one week out of about 16, despite the massive market there, then id hardly think moving snookers showpiece event abroad has even crossed his mind.

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Wildey

Witz78 wrote:Im all for world expansion of the game but i think the infrastructure should properly be put in place first before we can really call the sport a global one, at which point it will then be appropriate to host the Worlds around the world.

An Eastern rival / feeder tour to supplement the current main tour should be the first step to accomodate the massive amount of Chinese players by giving them top level snooker on their doorstep, satisfy the demand from the Chinese for snooker, allow these players to be built up into superstars. A major held over in China whilst this happens would be a first step.

The infrastructure and profile of snooker in mainland Europe, North and South America and Australia also has to be tapped into and progressed as a priority too.

For me taking the Worlds to China at this moment in time, would be no more than a token gesture to gloss over the reality that snooker is a million miles behind other sports like tennis and golf, in terms of global appeal.

Im a bit of a traditionalist at times, though im also keen to welcome change too, but the history of the Crucible makes it hard to imagine any World Championship played elsewhere really seeming like the main event.

And with Hearn in charge, im a fan of him and have total confidence he will improve things significantly and boost the sport again, but considering he wont even take his Darts Premier League to Holland for one week out of about 16, despite the massive market there, then id hardly think moving snookers showpiece event abroad has even crossed his mind.


holy shittttttttttttttttttttttttttttt i totally agree with witz.

you got to get the sports structure secure before even thinking about moving the 1 tournament that works on all level.

moving the tournament because it looks like the right thing to do for more seating capacity etc could tear the heart out of the WC.

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Rocket_ron

wildJONESEYE wrote:
Witz78 wrote:Im all for world expansion of the game but i think the infrastructure should properly be put in place first before we can really call the sport a global one, at which point it will then be appropriate to host the Worlds around the world.

An Eastern rival / feeder tour to supplement the current main tour should be the first step to accomodate the massive amount of Chinese players by giving them top level snooker on their doorstep, satisfy the demand from the Chinese for snooker, allow these players to be built up into superstars. A major held over in China whilst this happens would be a first step.

The infrastructure and profile of snooker in mainland Europe, North and South America and Australia also has to be tapped into and progressed as a priority too.

For me taking the Worlds to China at this moment in time, would be no more than a token gesture to gloss over the reality that snooker is a million miles behind other sports like tennis and golf, in terms of global appeal.

Im a bit of a traditionalist at times, though im also keen to welcome change too, but the history of the Crucible makes it hard to imagine any World Championship played elsewhere really seeming like the main event.

And with Hearn in charge, im a fan of him and have total confidence he will improve things significantly and boost the sport again, but considering he wont even take his Darts Premier League to Holland for one week out of about 16, despite the massive market there, then id hardly think moving snookers showpiece event abroad has even crossed his mind.


holy shittttttttttttttttttttttttttttt i totally agree with witz.

you got to get the sports structure secure before even thinking about moving the 1 tournament that works on all level.

moving the tournament because it looks like the right thing to do for more seating capacity etc could tear the heart out of the WC.

I am very concerned that you and witz are agree so much lately

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Witz78

rocket_ron wrote:
wildJONESEYE wrote:
Witz78 wrote:Im all for world expansion of the game but i think the infrastructure should properly be put in place first before we can really call the sport a global one, at which point it will then be appropriate to host the Worlds around the world.

An Eastern rival / feeder tour to supplement the current main tour should be the first step to accomodate the massive amount of Chinese players by giving them top level snooker on their doorstep, satisfy the demand from the Chinese for snooker, allow these players to be built up into superstars. A major held over in China whilst this happens would be a first step.

The infrastructure and profile of snooker in mainland Europe, North and South America and Australia also has to be tapped into and progressed as a priority too.

For me taking the Worlds to China at this moment in time, would be no more than a token gesture to gloss over the reality that snooker is a million miles behind other sports like tennis and golf, in terms of global appeal.

Im a bit of a traditionalist at times, though im also keen to welcome change too, but the history of the Crucible makes it hard to imagine any World Championship played elsewhere really seeming like the main event.

And with Hearn in charge, im a fan of him and have total confidence he will improve things significantly and boost the sport again, but considering he wont even take his Darts Premier League to Holland for one week out of about 16, despite the massive market there, then id hardly think moving snookers showpiece event abroad has even crossed his mind.


holy shittttttttttttttttttttttttttttt i totally agree with witz.

you got to get the sports structure secure before even thinking about moving the 1 tournament that works on all level.

moving the tournament because it looks like the right thing to do for more seating capacity etc could tear the heart out of the WC.

I am very concerned that you and witz are agree so much lately


youve been in denial for too long Wild, eventually you could no longer mask your true appreciation and agreement with my opinions.

Now ive just gotta get you brought round to realising the 90s era was a weak era rofl

back on topic though, yeh theres no case for the Worlds to go to China yet IMO.

We hear all about the great interest in the game over there, see the growing numbers of Eastern players emerging and hear about viewing figures of over 100 million for Ding matches............................. :scared:

YET

The events to date held over there are in morgue like arenas which are half empty, and the prize money is paltry to be honest. With snooker supposedly being such a top draw in China youd think with the size of country, vast wealth etc, theyd be thinking to themselves "stuff the WPSBA, lets run our own supertour on our own doorstep and poach the best of the British players by offering them wealths of money to play on our tour instead!"

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby SnookerFan

I would doubt there would be many that had been to The Crucible that would think it should be moved to China. In my eyes, the WC is only tournament where they get everything right. From the feel of the city when you arrive there, to the arena, to the sell out crowds, to everything. You certainly don't get that at Telford.

I live in London, and I'd prefer the Masters to move to China then The Crucible. The whole city breathes snooker when it's there, unlike any other. But why move one at all? Can't we create more events, and have them in China rather then pleb about with the ones we've got? And if we do have to move one, why isn't it the Grand Prix? You see the fans in Scotland, there's only ever about six of them there.

Re: Should the World Championship be taken to China?

Postby Roland

The Worlds should remain at the Crucible until the World ends. As for other events, apart from the UK and Masters I have no problem with any other event being held away from the UK. Certainly the China Open which is already established should be upgraded to UK format and give it more status.