Barry Hearns sets up Integrity Unit to ensure corruption free World Snooker Championship 2011
World Snooker chairman, Barry Hearns has set up an integrity unit to watch on any corruption or gambling affairs during Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2011. He warned that players found involved in any sort of gambling would face a lifetime ban from
the world of snooker.
The snooker chairman expressed these comments after the last-32 draw of Betfred.com World Snooker Champion 2011, on Monday. He said that any scandal or action like the World Snooker Championship 2010, in Sheffield, would not be tolerated at all and a player
found guilty of that would face a lifetime ban.
Hearn agrees that the Higgins scandal did have a cleansing effect on the game but the purity, richness and respect of the game must not be jeopardised by anyone. He has been struggling very hard to throw away corruption and gambling from the game.
World Number One, John Higgins, faced a six months ban (May 2-November 1, 2010) from World Snooker for being involved in gambling and match-fixing. Though he was cleared from the charges, yet he faced the ban for bringing the game to a dispute.
Another player, Quinten Hann was banned for eight years and fined £10,000 as he was found guilty after deliberately losing to Ken Doherty in the China Open 2006.
Hearn also wants the game to be quick and entertaining and he urged players not to take three minutes while playing a shot. He believes that snooker is not only a sport but entertainment and he wants the game to flow as the public wants to.
Top players in World Snooker will face tough competitors in the first round of the Betfred.com World Snooker Championship 2011 at the Crucible Theatre, in Sheffield, England. The Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan will meet Welshman, Dominic Dale, in the first round.
Ronnie is placed at Number 10 in the seeding list due to a series of first-round exits in major ranking events of the Snooker Season 2010-11.
World Number One and the 2011 Welsh Open champion, John Higgins, is set against the Euro Players Tour Championship (PTC) 2010-11 Event 4 winner, Stephen Lee, in his last-32 match. Higgins is on the peak of his performance especially after the Welsh Open
2011, in which the former world champion bounced back tremendously. His father, John senior’s death has become an inspiration for him.
The defending champion, Neil Robertson, will meet the Euro PTC 2010-11 Event 1 winner, Judd Trump, at the Crucible. If he storms further to the quarter-final stage, he is likely to face Graeme Dott, the man he defeated in the Betfred.com World Snooker Champiopnship
2010 to clinch the title.
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