Judd Trump believes it is time to move the World Championship venue out of Crucible, arguing that the World Championships should have a bigger venue as the ultimate battle for snooker.
文/Phil Haigh，《Metro》
The World Championships have been held in Crucible since 1977, and Crucible has long since become the spiritual mecca of the sport, where the likes of Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Steve Davis have won all the world titles of their careers.
However, It is well known that Crucible is a relatively small venue that can accommodate around 1,000 people, less than half the capacity of London's Alexander Palace, where the Masters are held.
Trump acknowledges that the tensions unique to Crucible help create a special atmosphere for the World Championships, but he also feels that if you want to develop snooker, you should seek a more spacious venue.
"It's a venue rich in legend and history, but is it still the best place to host the World Championships now? Probably not, I don't think so. ”
"Crucible can still have a high profile and historical origin, and perhaps it would be more appropriate to put the British Championship there. But for me, the World Championships need to go to a bigger venue. ”
"The ultimate battle of the sport shouldn't limit the number of spectators for venue reasons, the game should have thousands of spectators coming!" If there are 2,200 people on the Masters, then the World Championships should be watched by 5,000 people in a large stadium, not a small theater. ”
"I know that in Crucible, the audience is so close to the table it gives you excitement and makes you more nervous, but I think they can still maintain that effect elsewhere, at a larger audience size. It's the World Championships, everyone's going to be excited, every player is preparing for it, but the current situation is that Crucible is a bit behind. ”
Trump's remarks came after Neil Robertson suggested shortening the number of games in the world championship semi-finals and finals, and Robertson also suggested playing the first few rounds of the world championships at other venues before returning to Crucible for the semi-finals and finals.
Robertson's view is that non-snooker fans will struggle to stay engaged in long-term games that last four stages, and Trump believes changes to the World Championships are needed to attract new fans.
Judd said: "No one wants to make a change, but Neil (Robertson) is not saying this for his own benefit, he is thinking about the big picture. He knew to play a four-stage game in two days, which only die-hard fans would watch. But the people we want to attract, the people who have the potential to develop, won't watch the four-stage game. ”
"They will feel that the last stage of the game or until the 12:12 score is the real start of the game. I know what these people think. ”
"The World Championships do need a long-term system, two or three stages like that, but now from the first round to 19 innings is really too long."
"It takes three days to play the semi-finals, and the other rounds shouldn't be longer than the finals. I had played in the second round and it took me three days to finish, which was absolutely ridiculous. ”
"Three stages is enough, you can even finish in one day, one stage at 10am, 2.30pm and 7pm in one day. I think it grabs the audience more. ”
"Going to the first round and watching the final feels different. Let's say looking at golf, I don't just look at the first 12 holes and not the final. I also don't watch the first set of a tennis match and not look at the next few sets. ”
"Maybe from a business point of view, extending the game can make more money, sell more tickets, have better ratings, but appropriate changes can also guide the game in the same profitable direction."
Trump loves to play in Crucible and he has a lot of respect for Crucible's long history, but he firmly believes that it is more advantageous to keep going and try new things to attract new fans.
"The selection of the World Championship final in Crucible is an accident that happened in a special historical period, but unless you are in that era, you cannot deeply appreciate it. I don't think kids today will look back at the 1978 or 1980 finals, at least I know I haven't seen it. ”
"Is this a great place to play snooker?" It's hard to say, because a lot of people don't like it, but maybe it's feasible to host other competitions there, move the World Championships elsewhere, or maybe it can be held there every two years. ”
"What Neil (Robertson) said was not for his own benefit, nor was I, and our ideas are more favorable to Snooker's future. People may not like change right now, but you have to think about what will happen 10 years from now. ”
"In order to develop the sport, the World Championships had to be held on a larger venue. It's not an easy change, Crucible will always be associated with snooker and should be playing there, but I'm not sure it should be the World Championship. ”
Trump has been happy to talk about the future of snooker in the past, and earlier this year he also gave a personal opinion to the media on the marketing of dress code games.
Steve Dawson, who succeeded Barry Hearn as president of the World Snooker Tour this year, said he looked forward to an open discussion with Trump about the future of snooker.
Dawson told the BBC in April: "The channels of conversation are always open and I believe the conversation between us will be interesting." ”
"Players should be able to express their opinions through formal channels, but there is no reason why we should not listen to the players and the players' groups."
Asked if the conversation with Dawson had taken place, Trump said not yet, but he understood that for Dawson, it was still a difficult time to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and organizing the game was still a top priority.
Trump said: "We haven't communicated yet, but I think there will be a chance. For now, the WST remains silent on the players' opinions. Probably because there aren't many games at the moment, the players complain that they can't make money, which makes WST stressful and therefore has no time to take care of it. ”
"It's not anyone's fault, but right now it's a bit of a struggle and stressful moment for a lot of people. They're obviously working hard behind the scenes, but as long as we can get back into the game and get back to a steady audience without worrying about other adverse effects, then we can really get into the minutiae and give our opinion on the development of snooker. ”
Trump believes that the WST needs to listen to more than just his opinion, and all players should have more say in the operation of the game.
Due to the postponement of the Turkish Masters, the qualification matches for the top 16 players, including Trump, are played in the main tournament that begins in October, and the other players will compete for the main tournament through a qualifying round.
The change is unique to this season, and Trump believes players should have a say in this sort of thing.
He said: "It's not good for the players to have no real say in anything. For me, there should be a vote on whether the player wants to participate in the qualifiers, but the qualification question is only announced and executed in the end, and without everyone's review, everyone can only be forced to accept to play the qualifiers. ”
'Everything came too quickly and I think the players need to have more say.