Ronnie O’Sullivan will be among those rejoicing after the World Snooker Tour (WST) confirmed that the World Grand Prix is leaving the UK for a new home in Hong Kong.
The Rocket has long championed fewer events in Britain in favour of more competitions taking place in Asia, having recently opened a new academy in Saudi Arabia.
The WST announced that Hong Kong will hold its first ranking event in 35 years in March, where the top 32 players across the season will be competing for a bolstered World Grand Prix prize pool.
The total prize money has gone up from £380,000 to £700,000, with the winner receiving £180,000 as opposed to the £100,000 O’Sullivan pocketed for winning in Leicester this year.
The World Grand Prix arrived on the snooker calendar in 2015 and has been held in Llandudno, Preston, Cheltenham, Milton Keynes and Coventry before the Rocket’s 10-7 final win over Judd Trump in January.
O’Sullivan has vented his frustration on several occasions that he has not been able to compete in Asia as much as he would like to, as a result of the current schedule. Last year he even threatened to retire in order to be able to dictate his calendar.
“If I can’t go and do what I need to do, which is play a lot in China, I won’t ever play again,” O’Sullivan told the BBC. “So, we’re at a kind of crossroads now.
“If that gets to the point where I’m not able to do that, I’m not allowed to do that, I probably won’t play. I’ll probably go and play Chinese 8-Ball because I still want to play snooker, I still want a cue in my hand.
“There’s just not enough here in the UK for me to justify the effort that I put in. If someone’s going to respect me and value me more, why would I not go there? It’s like being in an unhealthy relationship with someone, why would you be in that?
“I’d love to be able to just keep playing snooker for the next five, six, seven, eight years, but if I’m going to be forced into a situation where that’s not possible, then I’m not going to just accept whatever 132 players do, which is to go and play tournament after tournament, week in, week out.”
O’Sullivan’s wishes appear to have been catered to as part of a plan to make snooker more of a global sport. There is closer to a 50-50 split of WST events in the UK and abroad than previously, though pressure to move the World Championship out of Sheffield has so far been resisted.
The World Grand Prix has made the switch, however. Next year’s edition will be held at the new Kai Tak Sports Park with a capacity of over 4,000 inside the Grand Hall.
March 4-9 will see players flock to Kowloon City and the World Open in Yushan, previously scheduled for the same date, will be moved to one week earlier in the calendar.
