World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn ambitious to revamp 2012 World Snooker Championship
In the past couple of years, the sport of snooker witnessed many changes that were made by the newly appointed World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn. Hearn made several alterations in the playing formats of some certain snooker tournaments and the number of
events in a season. Now, the snooker chief is aiming to shake up the upcoming 2012 World Snooker Championship.
After Hearn joined World Snooker as chairman, his ambitions include promoting the game across the globe. Before he came into the administration, the game was not as famous in the world as it is now and Hearn deserves appreciation for the initiatives he took
to spread the game.
Change in the 2012 World Snooker Championship is also part of the plan to make snooker more famous and interesting to watch. Meanwhile, this time the changes will not be made in the format of play but in the number of players and the prize money. According
to Hearn’s plans, this year the field of players will be increased from 64 to 128 and the winner’s prize money will be incremented to £1 million.
“People want to know what the total prize money is, and what the winner gets, not what the first-round loser gets. That is how a sport is perceived,” said Hearn in an interview with the Daily Mirror, “Anyone losing in the last 128 would get nothing. We would
do the first two rounds in multi-table situations at another venue, and could even hold a couple of matches over.”
The snooker boss added, “Realistically this might have to wait a couple of years. That is something we have to look at, be creative and work on to get people to accept that players have to earn that right constantly.”
However, in order to keep the game’s spirit alive, these changes will be made including suggestions from players because in the past, Hearn had to face some criticism from professional potters and many other critics. He even had verbal brawls with a couple
of players including the Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
His recent word battle was against Northern Irishman, Mark Allen before the 2011 UK Championship. The reason behind this fight was the changed format of UK Championship. Allen believed that Hearn, despite making promise to the players, changed the playing
format allegedly without taking the potters into confidence. However, the dispute was sorted out after a while and now the chairman has the new challenge of taking the consent of cueists before implementing further rules.
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