LONDON (Reuters) -Snooker’s hope to be included in the 2032 Brisbane Olympics is realistic and will be enhanced by China’s growing power in the sport, according to one of the men behind the bid. Zhao Xintong became the first Chinese world champion when he beat Mark Williams in the final on Monday, a breakthrough moment […]
Sports
Snooker-Zhao world title can enhance Olympic bid, says WPBSA chief
Audio By Carbonatix
LONDON (Reuters) -Snooker’s hope to be included in the 2032 Brisbane Olympics is realistic and will be enhanced by China’s growing power in the sport, according to one of the men behind the bid.
Zhao Xintong became the first Chinese world champion when he beat Mark Williams in the final on Monday, a breakthrough moment for a country in which snooker has boomed in popularity.
“Realistically, Australia is a target,” Jason Ferguson, chair of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), told the BBC broadcaster on Wednesday.
“We’re talking to all the multi-sport bodies. There’s a lot of politics involved, but the size of snooker and how important China is to the IOC (International Olympic Committee), someone has to look at this and say ‘this is now snooker’s time’.”
Snooker failed in bids to be included in the Tokyo and Paris Olympics but the sport’s increasing global reach, especially in Asia, could make it more attractive to the IOC.
Ferguson has no doubt that the 28-year-old Zhao’s triumph in Sheffield this week will further fuel its growth in China.
“This is one of the biggest occasions snooker has seen,” he said. “Snooker in China is treated like any national sport. To see a world champion returning to China a national hero is really going to send the sport to another level.”
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)