Barry Hawkins issues demand to UK government after World Championship exit | Other | Sport

Barry Hawkins has urged the UK government to invest in grassroots snooker to help inspire the next generation of Crucible stars. Hawkins was dumped out of the World Snooker Championship at the quarter-final stage, losing at the hands of Mark Allen. He slipped to a narrow 13-11 loss and missed several opportunities at the end of the match, including a botched snooker attempt in the final frame.

Hawkins, who was born in Kent, is one of a dying breed of English snooker stars at the Crucible this year. Players from other nations, particularly China, are taking over with a total of 11 involved in the first round of this year’s tournament. While a handful of young stars are flying the British flag, including the likes of Liam Pullen and Stan Moody, most top players from the UK are on the older side.

Hawkins believes that a greater level of investment is necessary to get more young people into snooker and keep producing talented British players.

Speaking to Midnite, he said: “Back when I was younger, the snooker scene around London was buzzing, it was amazing. We used to have tournaments nearly every night of the week, handicap tournaments in all different snooker clubs, all around London.

“There would be hundreds of entrants every day of week. I’d like to see them days come back. It was an amazing time when I was a junior, so hopefully there’s a few youngsters that come from London and fly the flag really.

“It needs investment in grassroots. There was a stage, there was a time where all the snooker clubs were shutting down and I think over recent years there’s been quite a few new ones that are opening up.

“I think the game’s picked up a lot and it’s definitely a lot more popular now. I know the club where I practice, Jordans in Rainham, Kent, it’s always busy.

“The market’s there, so maybe there’s opportunity to open up a few new ones and get youngsters involved again.”

As things stand, there are no British players under the age of 30 inside the top 32 in the world rankings. China, on the other hand, boasts seven players in that same category.

Senior figures within British snooker are now turning their attention to the grassroots game in order to combat this disparity.

Last month, World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association chairman Jason Ferguson told Sportsboom: “The obvious one is we’re seeing a lot of young Chinese players coming in. China invests heavily in grassroots sports.

“We have a have a national academy in China, the WPBSA, a British company. We have a national academy in Beijing and that academy has turned out players like Zhao Xintong. So, you know, it does work, investment in national sport.

“We do see investment heavily in many other sports going into training through UK sport, Olympic medals. You know, the fact that we sit slightly on one side away from those multi-sport games, we don’t actually receive the same amount of respect.

“What this represents here today, I’ll say it together. It represents a fundamental shift in attitudes in government, in what sports matter to the people.

“Our sport does matter to the people of this country and the people around the world and that has been widely recognised. I see that as a beginning of what’s possible.”

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