Hearn now controls snooker

Sports promoter Barry Hearn has won a controlling 51% stake in World Snooker following a vote at a World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association extraordinary meeting. The WPBSA, as the governing body, will now be separated from World Snooker.

Hearn defeated late challenger John Davison by a narrower than expected six votes, with big name stars such as Stephen Hendry and Peter Ebdon backing Davison. The support of Ronnie O’Sullivan and others, however, pushed Hearn into his controlling majority.

With the power struggle won, Hearn looked to the future and outlined his plans for the future of the sport:

“We said after the meeting that we’ve drawn a line in the sand, and all the problems in the past, all the politics, are history. We’ve got strong leadership. Where are we going to go from here? We know we’ve got a big job.

“The result was very satisfying, and for me it’s personally been one of the most satisfying days of my life. I think we need a three-year plan, and we need to create a possibility to get them playing all the time,” Hearn told Press Association Sport.

“I want them playing every weekend of the year. That would be the same as darts and hopefully we’ll have the same success that we’ve had with darts.”

Hearn has some radical plans for snooker and it’s those that prompted the likes of Hendry to back Davison, fearful that the traditions of the sport may be lost.

It is clear though that snooker needs a shot in the arm and Hearn, who has had great success in promoting darts to the general public, seems to be the right man to do it.

For me, as long as the World Championships remain at the Crucible and the rules for such high profile tournaments remain the same then whatever Hearn can do through new tournaments and formats to restore snooker’s popularity is fine. It remains with the players what tournaments they play in, so if Stephen Hendry doesn’t fancy a shot clock (one of Hearn’s proposals) then he doesn’t have to play.

It would be childish of him, in my opinion, but as something of a traditionalist myself I can see his point of view. The future of the sport is bigger than one man though and he should accept the way it’s going and add his support – and presence – to the future.

Do you back Hearn’s plans or are you on Hendry’s side? Where should snooker go now to regain it’s prominence? Let us know in the comments.