Marco Fu Britain Hong Kong Hong Kong tennis Sporting Marco Fu Britain Hong Kong Hong Kong

Ronnie O'Sullivan criticises 'lazy' snooker chiefs after Hong Kong Masters success - 'we need bigger crowds'

eurosport.com

Ronnie O'Sullivan has berated «lazy» UK snooker chiefs after playing before a world record crowd approaching 9,000 fans at the Hong Kong Masters on Sunday.

O'Sullivan admits the four-day invitational event at the Hong Kong Coliseum has changed the face of what snooker can achieve, comparing the tournament to the ATP tennis finals at London's O2 Arena.

Ad The world champion and world No. 1 believes the first Hong Kong Masters at the city's Hong Kong Coliseum set a new standard for a sport that first rose to prominence when characters of the green baize dominated terrestrial television in the UK four decades ago.

Snooker‘He does things that make you go wow!’ – Carragher says O’Sullivan is in his top 3 sporting GOATsAN HOUR AGO “It’s probably the best tournament I’ve ever played in,” he said. “This tournament has just changed snooker.

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The World Snooker Tour rolled into Belfast last week off the back of the biggest ever crowd at a live match, culminating in Mark Allen's victory last night.
Neil Robertson will play his first ranking event of the season at the Northern Ireland Open on Sunday feeling blessed the sport's holy trinity are still top of the pots. The 2010 world champion faced six-time world champion Steve Davis and seven-time Crucible winner Stephen Hendry in the death throes of their competitive career, but continues to confront Class of '92 icons Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams in their prime.
Jamie Carragher says Ronnie O’Sullivan is in his top three list of all-time greatest sportspeople, stating that the snooker player does things that “make you go wow”. O’Sullivan is widely regarded as the best snooker player ever with seven World Championships, seven UK Championship titles and seven titles at The Masters which add up to a record 21 Triple Crown titles. Ad He also has the most ranking titles, with 39, and has been among the sport’s elite for two decades.
Marco Fu says Ronnie O’Sullivan is in the same rank as sporting legends such as Roger Federer, Lionel Messi, Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan. Fu was beaten 6-4 by O’Sullivan in front of nearly 9,000 fans inside the Hong Kong Coliseum, which set a new record for fan attendance at a snooker match. Ad The crowd were clearly knowledgeable, clapping and cheering on the tactical and positional side of the game, as well as the long shots.
It would be nice to think that Ray Reardon, on his 90th birthday, switched on Eurosport on Saturday morning to see Marco Fu’s 147 break in the deciding frame of his victory over John Higgins in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Masters. Reardon could not turn professional until he was 35 because snooker was yet to attract the attention of television and there was no money in it. That all changed in 1969 when the BBC launched Pot Black to showcase its new colour service.

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