Mark Selby has urged fellow professionals to support grassroots snooker, warning that the ongoing closure of clubs across the UK could threaten the sport’s future.
The Englishman is in hot form at the moment and reached the last 32 of this week’s Scottish Open with a 4-1 victory over Robbie McGuigan on Tuesday.
Selby arrived in Edinburgh on a nine-game winning streak having picked up prestigious titles at the recent Champion of Champions and the UK Championship.
The latter success brought his career tally of major Triple Crown titles to ten, a feat he celebrated with a group of young players from his local club at the weekend.
Indeed, Selby believes more should be done to inspire the next generation as clubs face a constant fear of closure across the country.
“I’m really happy to win another Triple Crown,” two-time Scottish Open champion Mark Selby told the World Snooker Tour.
“It’s very pleasing. As I always say, to win any tournament nowadays is tough, but to win one of them Triple Crown events is even tougher.”
“Especially with the amount of pressure that I put on myself in those tournaments, so I was really happy to win that.
“In the last week, I’ve just been practicing a little bit at home. I went to the football on Saturday to watch Leicester play.
“That morning, I went to the snooker club where I practice, because they have a junior academy there.
“So I went there and took the trophy to show all the children, which was nice seeing the smiles on their faces.
“A lot of clubs around the country seem to be closing down. I got a message from one of my friends who I did an exhibition for a few years ago.
“He was saying that the government is trying to close his club down as well, so it’s sad times.
“Snooker seems to be as high as its ever been on the professional level and grassroots seems to be the other way.
“The grassroots can only grow if you’ve got these clubs around the country, where the children can go into to practice.
“Not every city has got academies like Sheffield, so it’s a shame. But hopefully myself and some other players can try to do something to stop that from happening.
“I’m not sure what we could do, but if we could put something out there and keep spreading the word.
“Because if it wasn’t for the clubs when I was younger, there is no way in the world that I could have turned professional.
“I would have had nowhere to practice, and it’s going to be the same situation for these young lads coming through if that is the case with the clubs closing down.”
Every round-of-32 encounter is on the schedule for Wednesday’s order of play at the Meadowbank Sports Centre, meanwhile.
There are several interesting ties on the agenda, with Selby’s fixture against Hossein Vafaei one of the picks of the bunch.
Elsewhere, Lei Peifan is set to continue his defence against Yuan Sijun in one of four all-Chinese ties.
Another pits Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong against Zhou Yuelong, the runner-up at the season’s opening Home Nations event in Brentwood.
The contest between Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham marks a repeat of their World Championship final from a decade ago.
Home favourite John Higgins is in action against Noppon Saengkham while fellow Scot Anthony McGill clashes with Chris Wakelin.
Mark Allen, who alongside Selby and Lei is the only other Scottish Open champion left in the draw, entertains Wang Yuchen.
The two most recent world champions Zhao Xintong and Kyren Wilson meet Joe O’Connor and Pang Junxu respectively, while there is an intriguing battle of young Chinese talents between Si Jiahui and Chang Bingyu.
The Scottish Open contenders are competing for the calendar year’s final ranking title, the Stephen Hendry Trophy, and a top prize worth £100,000.
Scottish Open Draw
Round of 32 (bo7)
Lei Peifan vs Yuan Sijun
Chris Wakelin vs Anthony McGill
Stuart Bingham vs Shaun Murphy
Zhou Yuelong vs Xiao Guodong
Ben Mertens vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Jiang Jun vs David Gilbert
Wu Yize vs Lan Yuhao
Matthew Selt vs He Guoqiang
Kyren Wilson vs Pang Junxu
Si Jiahui vs Chang Bingyu
Hossein Vafaei vs Mark Selby
Noppon Saengkham vs John Higgins
Mark Allen vs Wang Yuchen
Zhang Anda vs Matthew Stevens
Elliot Slessor vs Zak Surety
Joe O’Connor vs Zhao Xintong
Featured photo credit: WST
I’m glad a high profile player is using his voice in this way. The rate of snooker club closures this century has been alarming. It’s in total contrast to darts where outlets are popping up around the country en masse.
It’s clear that in 20 years there will be no clubs and no UK players in snookers top 32. The game will have shifted entirely to Asia and become a sport much like table tennis. Unfortunately this beast is released and I can see no way of stopping it now.
Snooker has a big problem in the UK, I have no doubt personally. I chat to a couple of work colleagues and a couple of family members about snooker but none of us plays it any more, and my work colleagues claim that they are in general sports betting related social media and WhatsApp groups, and snooker is never once mentioned in those sports betting chats. These are chats which revolve around sports (and betting on them in particular obviously.) but snooker goes unnoticed. That’s a bad omen if groups of working lads chatting sport, and sports betting, don’t even acknowledge snooker at all between them. Combined with the reduction in new British talent coming through, and the rate of snooker club closures, it’s a bad situation at the grassroots in the UK.
Yes, snooker needs to reinvent itself, much as all other sports have done. The general view of snooker that I come across is that it was a game that used to be popular in the 1980’s and 1990’s. People are astonished when I tell them that the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White are still playing. It needs a generation shift, and a refreshed image for the 21st century. It’s 2025 now.
I find it hard to believe people are surprised by Ronnie O’Sullivan still playing. He’s one of the most recognised sporting figures in the country.
What we need is government support. The snobbery which snooker suffers from is a huge hindrance.
The professional game is in good health. I’m a little wary of reshaping the game if it means irrelevant changes of dress code or shortening matches.
Well at least we can agree about that – the dress-codes and match-lengths are fine! But I’ve expressed before, on here and various articles, lots of ideas as to how snooker can look to resurrect itself for a new generation.
It’s more about finding ways to create places for more talent to come through. A good number of young people still watch the sport. It’s an issues on the continent as well. There’s a significant viewership there but very few seem to actually play the sport.