The Crucible cannot be the home of snooker for long

Barry Hearn has insisted that Sheffield can maintain its status as the home of the World Snooker Championship, but the future of the famous Crucible is less certain.

The iconic venue holds 980 spectators, but the sport has come under pressure from moneymakers such as Saudi Arabia and China to move the event away from the theater for the first time since 1977.

Kyren Wilson won his first title on Monday with an 18-14 win over Jak Jones.

“The priority is to stay in the Steel City of Sheffield because it has been our home for a long, long time,” Hearn, 72, said yesterday.

“But we owe it to everyone to listen. We listen to the fans, we listen to the locals, we listen to the players.

“The Effect on Prize Money. We look at the conditions and say the game has moved on and deserves better than the current conditions.

“I think it’s a new construction in town. It cannot be an expansion of the crucible. There is not enough space. The building is too small.

“But I think there are other buildings that could be converted … but I need a place to emphasize the importance of the event, the quality of the event.

“You can’t put it in a leisure center and say ‘this is our World Championship’ just for the sake of another 1,000 (or) 1,500 tickets a session.”

Last 10 Crucible finals