Ronnie O’Sullivan reckons UK events on the World Snooker Tour are ‘like a car boot sale’ and says the whole tour should be moved to China.
The Rocket is playing in his first UK event of the season this week at the English Open in Brentwood, after jetting in from an exhibition in Macau over the weekend.
He landed on Monday morning and travelled straight to Essex where he beat Andrew Pagett 4-0 in the opening round, but the world number one was not impressed with the surroundings at The Brentwood Centre.
Speaking after his win he said: ‘I think it’s important to have good tournaments. I am not saying this is a terrible tournament. But the venues…people walking up and down in the crowd.
‘I’d like to see someone get hold of a good promoter, get hold of the tournaments and make them a bit better. Nothing has really changed in 12 years. You just go through the motions in a lot of these tournaments. I don’t want to be ultra-critical but also sometimes the truth needs to be told.
‘I don’t know if you have had a walk around this venue or been in the toilets and had a look around. It’s not the greatest. It’s not the most inspiring place to come and play snooker but it is what it is.’
O’Sullivan reckons tournaments in the UK have not been up to scratch since the end of tobacco sponsorship in 2005, comparing them to a car boot sale.
‘They don’t care here. They just don’t care anymore,’ he said. ‘When we had tobacco sponsors, they were amazing, they really went out of their way to make all the players feel special.
‘Don’t just ask me, go and ask [Stephen] Hendry, go and ask some of the players who played then with tobacco sponsors. Just don’t take my word for it.
‘Every event was like a special event. Now, it’s just, I don’t know what it is. It’s like a car boot sale. I have always said, it’s like a car boot sale. It hasn’t changed in 12 years. You think it would have got better but it hasn’t.
‘I don’t want to sound too down on it but it is what it is. It’s quite hard as a player to turn up at tournaments like this and feel like you want to try. Know what I mean? But you do try because you have pride in performance. It’s not easy.’
Asked whether he would like to see more events moved abroad, O’Sullivan said he isn’t fussy where it is, as long as tournaments meet standards that he feels need to be met.
‘I’d go anywhere,’ he said. ‘I would say to whoever is putting the tournaments on, there has to be a criteria, there’s a level that they have got to come up with.
‘We should make them accountable. This [the English Open] to me isn’t good enough. So someone should be in here judging them, saying “well, this isn’t suitable”. Like health and safety come in and say, this isn’t good enough for a pro tournament.
‘There should be a certain standard that we all….us as players, we have standards we have to adhere to. The promoters should have standards that they have to adhere to. There should be a certain level where it can’t drop.
‘If the tournaments are going to be like this, then have every tournament in Asia, have every tournament in Saudi.’
The seven-time world champion suggested that the UK problem may not be just snooker-related, but a wider malaise in society that is seeing standards fall across the board.
‘It’s probably not even snooker,’ said the 47-year-old. ‘I wouldn’t even travel British Airways or Virgin, they have even gone so down the pan. You go Cathay Pacific, you go China Eastern, it’s a different level.
‘I don’t know, maybe we are just falling apart as a country. Brexit. Everything has gone to pot. Maybe they are cutting corners so much that I don’t know, maybe it is just done over here.
‘Maybe they do need to go to places where they have money. There is no money over here to put on events otherwise I am sure they would. Go to China. Have the whole tour in China. You could still have the World Championships here if you want. But take everything out there. Keep us out there. I don’t really want to play in these events, you know.’
O’Sullivan has skipped the majority of tournaments so far this season, only playing the Shanghai Masters before his trip to Brentwood this week, winning the invitational event in China.
Asked what it is he prefers about the Asian events, he said: ‘They just make an effort. The crowds, they have a two-table set-up, so you are not playing in a four-table thing where people are moving around. I know it might sound silly but just having a crowd down the side just makes you engage more.
‘For me, if you go to Asia, you go to all those fantastic venues, they look after you really well; courtesy cars to and from the games; there is security, so you get to your match and get away without being driven mad.
‘In Asia, they go that extra bit for you. It’s little things like that as a player that mean something to you. The game’s the game. That never changed. But just how you get treated as a player. It means more. Who doesn’t want to be treated well? Who doesn’t want to be spoilt? For me, you get that when you are in Asia.
‘Obviously I know there is a travelling thing, but I am prepared to do that now. Just travel to all those tournaments, play in them, try to make them count as they are the bigger events as well. Then if we come home, and I feel like playing in some of these UK events, I will. If I don’t, then I will just take some time out, recharge.’
World Snooker Tour responded to O’Sullivan’s comments on the growth of the sport in recent years.
The statement read: ‘Our UK events have grown massively over the past decade. At the Masters in London for example, ten years ago we were selling less than 500 tickets for certain sessions, while now most sessions are selling out the 2,000-seat arena.
‘We are a global tour and in the UK it’s important that we bring events to many different regions so that fans across the home nations have the chance to see live snooker. Our choice of venues is based on many factors including size and backstage facilities for the players.
‘The facts speaks for themselves as our overall ticket sales have increased by 300% over the past ten years, or if we discount the World Championship then that figure is 700%. We are setting new records for sales at every venue year after year. Today the arena in Brentwood was sold out well in advance.
‘We have focussed on the fan experience to make it a great day out for people of all ages. And for the players, overall prize money has increased and is set to hit record levels this season. We always listen to feedback from the players but we feel we are making significant steps forward as a global sport.’
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