15.7.10

HEARN ON THE RADIO

Barry Hearn will appear on BBC Radio 5 Live tonight from 9.30pm to talk about his ongoing plans for snooker.

He has already teased the possibility of a World Cup, which is long overdue.

The old World Team Cup was played over four days featuring just eight teams but the World Cup staged in Bangkok in 1996 was a proper international event.

Needless to say it hasn't been staged since.

The Nations Cup was a poor imitation in comparison and has not been staged since 2001.

Snooker is an individual sport but team snooker is a staple of leagues and would create a different atmosphere.

The four UK home nations could be joined by the Republic of Ireland, China, Thailand, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Brazil and various other outposts. The game is played by amateurs in more countries than ever.

Hearn has a number of announcements to come, including broadcast deals and new innovations.

They won't all be introduced this season but the game is now going forward after many years of stagnation.

5 comments:

porridge said...

I sort of love the idea of world cup. I don't know if it could really work with nations, but more like continents. UK nations and Ireland could be just as they are, but maybe teams like Europe, China, The-Rest-Of-Asia-Plus-Robertson-from-Australia and so on to go alongside them. Just to make it more reasonable in sporting sense.

On amateur level, all the nations could be on their own, but when these top players come to the event, it'll be just equivalent of Portugal-North Korea or something. I'm not sure, if anyone would be interested in that kind of bloodbathing.

Oh man, I'd love to see Europe all-star team taking on these Waleses and Irelands. And Robin Hull getting out of retirement for the sake of Europe, for one last time. One can always dream. :)

kildare cueman said...

I hope he won't be using the same format that he uses for the 9-ball world cup, that is, pairs of players from the same country playing scotch doubles. 6 reds would be better than that.

I thought the 1996 world cup was a good event. Id like to see that repeated.

CHRISK5 said...

Only the Home nations or China would have any realistic chance of winning a Snooker World Cup - if it
was played in a decent format of
frames - only a shorter format would produce a 'surprise' winning team.

The bigger picture is,it will involve nations & potential markets that Snooker needs to tap into & expand to in future,
a new World Cup would be the perfect launchpad for that.

Surely a 12 team or a 16 team tournament should be on the cards.

I am in favour of a Snooker World Cup - Done correctly,it could have similar billing to the Masters,
Premier League & PTC Finals.

jamie brannon said...

Really enjoyed the interview with Hearn last night. He reminds of Geoffrey Boycott in the sense that he keeps everything forthright and has clarity of expression which makes him engaging.

I feel really bouyant about the future for snooker and I am hoping he might sex up bowls as it is a good sport to watch. It just needs to somehow attract younger fans.

Anonymous said...

What about bringing back the doubles event? I seem to remember the Alex Higgins/Jimmy White partnership winning it at least once. It would be intriguing to see what pairings you would get these days.