July 11th 2024.
Last season, the snooker world was buzzing with excitement as Ronnie O'Sullivan emerged as the victorious champion of the World Grand Prix in Leicester. But now, there is talk of the tournament leaving the UK for the first time since its debut on the World Snooker Tour in 2015. And it seems like this could be just the beginning of a bigger change in the coming years.
According to sources, talks are well underway for the World Grand Prix to be held in Hong Kong this season. The venue of choice is the brand new 10,000 seat indoor arena at Kai Tak Sports Park, which is still being built. While nothing has been officially confirmed yet, the World Snooker Tour (WST) is "very confident" that the event will take place in Hong Kong, marking a significant shift for the tournament that has previously been held in different parts of the UK.
This move to Hong Kong is part of a larger plan to bring snooker to a more global audience. Currently, the majority of professional tournaments take place in the UK, with only a handful held abroad in countries like China, Germany, and Saudi Arabia. But this season, there are 20 events on the calendar, with more to be added in the near future, including the Grand Prix and World Masters of Snooker. Out of these 20, 13 will take place in the UK and 7 in other parts of the world, inching closer to a 50-50 split.
A spokesperson for the WST explained that this is their short-term goal, and they hope to have more events held abroad than in the UK in the future. They believe that this is a fairer distribution for the sport, which has been primarily UK-based for a long time. As the spokesperson stated, "There's no room for us now to keep doing stuff in smaller places. We're looking to shift to a 50-50 model in the near future. By 2026/27 it should be 50-50 and it might even go beyond that, which is what it should be really. So there will be fewer UK events but they'll be world class."
This season, we have already seen the addition of new events overseas, such as the Xi'an Grand Prix in China and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, offering big prize money. However, there has been a decline in events held in Europe, with only the German Masters on the schedule. This is a decrease from last season, which also saw the European Masters being held in Germany. This decline is particularly disappointing considering that the current world champion is Belgian, and there is a strong fan base for snooker in countries like Finland and Bulgaria.
Despite this, the WST assures fans that they are constantly looking at ways to expand the tour in Europe. They are "always looking at Europe" and "desperately trying" to bring more events to the continent. They even hint at the possibility of the Home Nations series being expanded internationally in the future, with events in places like Edinburgh, Belfast, Finland, and Poland.
A spokesperson for the WST explained, "It could be, hypothetically, that the Home Nations could become a European series with perhaps Edinburgh, Belfast, Finland, Poland and it becomes a completely different event. We need to move away from relying on the UK market."
As for the World Grand Prix, fans can expect an official announcement in the coming weeks regarding the venue, dates, and TV coverage. Talks are still ongoing, but it seems like Hong Kong is the most likely destination. There is also a possibility of the event taking place in either January or March, and discussions are still being held on whether ITV4 will continue to broadcast the tournament. Exciting times are ahead for snooker fans, as the sport continues to expand its reach and bring top-quality events to fans across the globe.
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