Barry Hearn has thrown his weight behind Ronnie O’Sullivan’s proposal to open academies in England in a bid to stop a full-blown Chinese takeover of snooker.
Alarmingly, only two British players under the age of 30 are ranked in the top 50 of the world – Jackson Page and Joe O’Connor – compared to 11 from China.
A record 10 Chinese stars also made up the 32 players at the recent World Championship, with 28-year-old Zhao Xintong becoming the first winner from the country.
During his own Crucible campaign, record seven-time world champion O’Sullivan said he was prepared to put his name to a high-performance centre in England – like he has in Saudi Arabia.
And Hearn now wants to meet the Rocket to try and get his proposal off the ground, admitting the lack of domestic talent is a ‘big issue’ in the sport.
‘We will certainly talk to Ronnie about putting his ideas into practice,’ said the World Snooker Tour’s honorary president.
Ronnie O’Sullivan admitted during the World Championship he would be willing to put his name to a high performance centre
Barry Hearn now wants to meet the Rocket to try and get his proposal off the ground
Zhao Xintong won the most recent World Championship to become the first Chinese champion in the competition’s history
‘The idea of having a Ronnie O’Sullivan snooker academy in all the big cities makes a lot of sense. I like that very much.
‘If he is serious about it, I would 100 per cent welcome it and get beyond him solidly to launch a series of Ronnie O’Sullivan snooker academies all over the country to inspire young people to play.
‘To use his name would be a very valuable asset in trying to promote grassroots. Ronnie is cross-generational. When he plays, my wife watches, my grandchildren watch, because he is something magical. He’s the full package.
‘If he really has a passion for leaving his mark on future generations by way of academies or whatever, I think World Snooker would get behind it. Let’s have a chat about it.’
Hearn also admits that domestic snooker is crying out for their equivalent of Luke Littler, having seen how interest in darts has surged since the Warrington thrower became the youngest winner of the world title aged 17 in January.
‘We need the Luke Littler effect in snooker without doubt,’ added Hearn, whose company Matchroom runs darts as well as snooker.
‘I am fearful and mindful of the future. It’s a big issue that I know the WPBSA are working on and trying to change. But you need to have the demand first.
‘The World Championship is an opportunity every year to sell the game to the next level of audience. And we’ve got to work harder on that.
‘We need more academies. But you need people that want to play and there’s got to be a reason. Youngsters have fallen in love with darts after watching Luke Littler achieve his dreams and suddenly become a multimillionaire.’
