Ronnie O’Sullivan in favour of World Championship move - 'I don’t actually like The Crucible'
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Published 18/04/2024 at 11:31 GMT
The snooker season is heading towards the business end, with the World Championship looming large on the horizon. It will remain at The Crucible for at least four more years, but the contract is up for renewal and there has been talk about it being moved away from the Sheffield venue. Seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan has had his say on things.
O'Sullivan prepared to go 'beyond the distance' again to win World Snooker Championship
Ronnie O’Sullivan has backed calls for the World Championship to be moved away from The Crucible.
The Sheffield venue has been the home of the sport’s biggest event since 1977, but the current 10-year contract runs out in 2027.
Snooker supremo Barry Hearn has made noises about the tournament changing venues unless Sheffield council makes improvements to The Crucible.
“I mean I have told them (Sheffield) what they have got to do,” Hearn told the Sheffield Star during last year's World Championship. "I haven’t seen too much activity in that way. We are part of the Sheffield development plan. But again I need a bit more juice on it.
"I live in a world of people talking about things. In the world I like to operate in, it’s where people do things. They are in that process, I am not criticising them. Let’s hope it comes up.
“We are in 2023. They have four to five years. But I don’t want it to be a decision made in four or five years. I am a Sheffield fan, I want to stay here. But it might not be my decision. Well… it is not. I am the president non-executive. So I don’t really have any power - other than we are still going to do what I tell them to do.”
Hearn said he had been approached by a consortium from Qatar about hosting the World Championship in the Middle East.
It is a divisive subject in the sport, with a host of people having strong opinions on whether it should remain in Sheffield.
O’Sullivan, a seven-time winner of the World Championship, is strongly in favour of moving the event away from The Crucible.
"I don’t actually like The Crucible to be honest,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport. “I’d much rather it go anywhere than The Crucible.
“I know it’s a great venue but I don’t like playing there for 17 days. For me if it goes anywhere but the Crucible it would be brilliant.”
While O’Sullivan is in favour of a move, Jimmy White would like to see the event remain in Sheffield.
“I’ll be done by then [2027] so I’d like it to stay at the Crucible,” White said. “Because of the connection that city has done for snooker, and what snooker has done for that city.
“When it’s a one-table situation. When it’s a two-table situation, it’s a nightmare, as you know yourself. You can be just about to pot a very difficult ball and the crowd on the other table, you have to get used to that.
“But things improve and change. If the facilities are better and these young guys will go where the money is. Sport improves. But I’d like to see it stay there.”
O’Sullivan will bid for a bit of history later this year, as he will head to the World Championship as the holder of The Masters and UK Championship.
Victory would secure him all three Triple Crowns in the same season. His preference would be to do his work in the morning or afternoon rather than the evening sessions.
“Always afternoon for me,” he said when asked about his preferred time to play. “I hate hanging around. I’d rather get it done then go back and watch some Netflix, eat some food.
“There’s the 10 o’clock session as well. Get it done even earlier.”
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