Hearn tells top snooker stars to look in the mirror

World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn believes alarm bells should be ringing for Crucible nearly men after veterans Mark Williams and John Higgins left the younger generation standing.

Judd Trump and Ding Junhui have won many other events and earned millions of pounds from snooker, but neither has managed to land a coveted world title.

And after 28-year-old Trump and 31-year-old Ding again fell short, Hearn has questioned the desire of those who have gone close without getting their hands on the Betfred World Championship trophy.

“If I was a player who hadn’t won the world title I’d be spending a long time looking in the mirror and saying, ‘Why?’,” Hearn said.

“In every other sport it goes younger, and yet we’ve got a 42-year-old and a 43-year-old in the final in what is the toughest field we’ve probably assembled.

“They’ve come through a field of excellence and they’ve answered all the questions. So if I was a young player now, or a Ding Junhui, I’d be looking in the mirror and asking myself some very pertinent questions about what I’m doing wrong.

“Is it lifestyle? Am I too soft? Has the money in the game, which has gone up phenomenally, spoilt me – has it taken the edge off my game? Have I settled for being good but not great?

“Those questions are only answered by proper men quietly in the surrounds of their own house or perhaps with their loved ones. Someone needs to say, ‘You’re doing something not quite right’.

“Is it that one loose shot that Judd Trump plays every now and again? Has Ding with his massive sponsorship deals in China become a bit soft?

“When Mark Williams says he was teetering on the brink in his semi-final, he was still hard enough to pot the balls. So I think it’s a question of character more than ability, it’s a question of lifestyle more than potting, and they’ve got to say, ‘These guys aren’t going to change, maybe I’m the one that needs to change’.”