Exclusive | Hong Kong support has inspired snooker to aim for bigger audiences, sport’s CEO says
Simon Brownell says the record crowd at Coliseum for 2022 exhibition final between Marco Fu and Ronnie O’Sullivan ‘changed our minds’
The record-breaking crowd at the Hong Kong Masters almost three years ago inspired snooker’s world governing body to believe the sport could be played in front of much bigger audiences, the head of World Snooker Tour said on Tuesday.
Speaking exclusively to the Post on the first day of the World Grand Prix – the city’s first ranking tournament in 35 years – Simon Brownell said the almost 9,000 fans who turned up at the Coliseum for the exhibition final between Marco Fu Ka-chun and Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2022 “changed our minds”.
According to Brownell, the light-bulb moment came when Fu potted the last black to record a 147 in his semi-final against John Higgins.
“The noise that was created was unlike any that anyone had ever experienced in the sport before,” Brownell said. “As to what was possible for our sport, we couldn’t be limited by our imagination.
“We had to go out there and think about what is possible and what we learned was that a 10,000-seat arena is possible for our sport. So, we know what is possible here and we can’t wait to start building the highlights reel and important, historical moments that we’re going to see here.”
Brownell added that his organisation now wanted to extend the successful model to the rest of the world, having also learned that intimate venues were not necessary for success.