Ronnie O'Sullivan 'is incorrect' - Shaun Murphy responds to The Rocket over state of snooker comments

Shaun Murphy has responded to Ronnie O’Sullivan’s criticism of the sport after the seven-time world champion said snooker is in “the worst place it has ever been”. O'Sullivan made headlines speaking at the WST Classic in Leicester as he gave his perspective on the state of the sport. He began by saying «listen, snooker is in a bad place» before referencing the recent cancellation of the Turkish Masters for financial reasons.

Ad “It’s in trouble," O'Sullivan told The Sportsman. «Forget Turkey, this needs at least another £50 million a year just to make it a proper tour. When you look at the number, it’s bad.

When you look at £10 million prize money for 25 events across the year for 128 players, it’s never going to be good. SnookerTwo-century O'Sullivan opens WST Classic with victory, Trump joins 900 club, White wins17/03/2023 AT 19:45 »It needs at least to triple that to make it work. Maybe you do need some proper people like Liberty [in Formula 1] or someone with the vision to bring it up to date.

“You look at the people actually managing the game, they are not the brightest sparks either. So you can’t see them digging themselves out of it. But you don’t have to be Einstein.

It is probably in the worst place it has ever been. «The image of the sport, it’s a bit like a pub sport now. Look at some of the tournaments — The Shootout.

Some of the venues we play at. It’s lost its charm of what it used to be. It’s cheap.” Murphy has given his response to the comments, and he took the opportunity to urge The Rocket to turn up to the important meetings that have been put in place by the World Snooker Tour for players to have their say about snooker's future.