Hearn tells 147 prize critics to ‘get out of the sport’
LONDON: Snooker supremo Barry Hearn has said there’s no going back to the days of huge payouts for 147 breaks, insisting those complaining about the current prize money on offer for maximums should “get out of the sport”.
There had been no 147s heading into Monday’s second day of the World Championship final at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre in northern England, with a relatively modest £ 5,000 on offer to a player achieving the feat during the tournament.
No player has made a Crucible maximum since snooker great Stephen Hendry’s 147 in 2012 and there have only been 10 in the history of the tournament, with Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan compiling three apiece.
In 1997, O’Sullivan, nicknamed ‘the Rocket’ for his speed around the table, took just five minutes and 20 seconds to compile one of the most astounding maximums in snooker history, let alone at a World Championship.
For that the five- times world champion received a cheque for £147,000 (US$190,000, 174,000 euros) plus the tournament high-break prize of £18,000.
But despite the greatly reduced prize money on offer, World Snooker chairman Hearn had nothing but scorn or a player who deliberately opted out of the chance to complete a 147.
O’Sullivan made a 146 break in his quarter- final loss to China’s Ding Junhui, but denied afterwards he took the pink rather than the blank after the last red as a protest against the maximum break prize.
“I think Ronnie ran out of position on his,” said Hearn, who added the reduced cheque on offer for a 147 reflected their increased frequency in a modern game where the overall standard has increased sharply since the days when he was making his name as the manager of six-times world champion Steve Davis in the 1980s.
“Ronnie got a 147 previously and I think he got £147,000 plus the highbreak prize. We’ve had lots of 147s this year,” Hearn added.
“The fact is that a 147, whether we like it or not, and we can be romantic about it, isn’t as significant as it was in the old days because we have so many of them.
“But if a professional player who is there not just to win games but to play to the best of his ability for whatever reason either turns down or doesn’t try for one, then I am disgusted with their lack of professionalism.— AFP