I won’t swap the Crucible for Beijing, vows Hearn

BARRY HEARN has hit back at suggestions from two of snooker’s biggest names that the World Championship’s days in Britain are numbered, claiming the Chinese are wasting their time and money by building a replica of Sheffield’s Crucible outside Beijing. World Snooker chairman Hearn revealed to Sportsmail yesterday that there are plans for the Chinese to create an identical venue to the one that hosts the World Championship, with the intention of ultimately taking the sport’s showpiece event to Asia.

It is a transition that 2007 007 world finalist Mark Selby believes ves is inevitable. ‘In the future I can see more tournaments going ng to China,’ he said. ‘We’re re there five or six times a year r already. In the long term, I think the World Championship will be in China.’

But Hearn (right) insisted d yesterday that the World d Championship will not leave ve the Crucible, which has as staged the event since 1977. 7.

Hearn said: ‘I keep hearing g that a move is inevitable. Other than death and taxes, there is nothing in this world that is inevitable. Certainly the Chinese would love to have the World Championship — they are actually building a replica of the Crucible outside Beijing — certainly they would pay a huge amount of money for it.

‘But in the stroke of a bank manager’s pen we would lose the history and integrity of the event. It is not a franchise that moves around the world — Wimbledon doesn’t suddenly pop up in Buenos Aires.

‘The two most fundamental people, as far as World Championship snooker goes, are the BBC and Sheffield City Council. While we have their support, we stay — and I believe we will always have their support.

‘We are part of the blue-riband events for the BBC and Sheffield has changed its name from the City of Steel to the City of Snooker.

‘Mr Selby is entitled to his opinion, but he is basing it on conjecture. We will have another agreement to stay at the Crucible in two or three months.’

Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen said: ‘UK snooker is dying a death. In the last four or five years televised tournaments in the UK are getting less and less. ‘It’s being bein pushed more to the Middle Eas East and Far East. I know Barry Hea Hearn is talking about branching out to Qatar and Bahrain. ‘It’s a sorry state of affairs f for UK snooker, but for s snooker in general it’s probably great. It’s becoming a global sport when it always u used to be just a UK sport.’

In yesterday’s draw for the W World Championship, fivetime winner Ronnie O’Sullivan was pitted against qualifier Robin Hull, who briefly retired from the game after suffering a lifethreatening virus. Hull beat ex-champion Peter Ebdon on Wednesday to qualify.

World No 1 Neil Robertson has been drawn against Robbie Williams as he chases a second title, and four-time champion John Higgins plays Alan McManus. The 2011 finalist Judd Trump plays Tom Ford and last year’s runnerup Barry Hawkins faces David Gilbert.

Draw for the first round of the Dafabet World Championship, starting on Saturday at the Crucible: Ronnie O’Sullivan v Robin Hull, Joe Perry v Jamie Burnett, Shaun Murphy v Jamie Cope, Marco Fu v Martin Gould, Barry Hawkins v David Gilbert, Ricky Walden v Kyren Wilson, Mark Davis v Dominic Dale, Ding Junhui v Michael Wasley, Mark Selby v Michael White, Ali Carter v Xiao Guodong, John Higgins v Alan McManus, Stuart Bingham v Ken Doherty, Judd Trump v Tom Ford, Stephen Maguire v Ryan Day, Mark Allen v Michael Holt, Neil Robertson v Robbie Williams.