Davis fearful of Chinese take-away

Davis has been competing in Sheffield since 1979, lifting all six of his world titles in the famous Crucible theatre, but accepts the financial lure of the Far East could mean the sport could be forced to “sell its soul”.

Ronnie O’Sullivan returns to the Crucible on April 20 to launch his defence of the crown, but 55-year-old Davis knows future generations could be swapping Sheffield for Shanghai.

Snooker is hugely popular in the Far East, and Davis believes the sport could eventually see a big-money event staged which would rival the World Championship.

Asked if it was inevitable that the World Championship would eventually be relocated from its traditional Crucible home to China, Davis replied: “Not necessarily, but once again if somebody came up with the right price it would be hard not to.

“You would have to sell your soul for the right amount.

“That would be ripping the heart out of the root of the game and issomething not to be done lightly.

“If the game continues to get bigger and bigger, we might have that dilemma. At the moment we don’t and it’s not a problem.”

The game currently has several high-profile events in the Far East, plus tournaments in Australia, Germany and Poland as snooker boss Barry Hearn looks to expand the sport.

And while Davis accepts globe-trotting around the world competing in tournaments may not be on the cards for himself, he is excited for future generations.

“We are getting to the stage where snooker is going worldwide and that will be interesting,” he said. “It’s nice to think that players now have a proper all-year round opportunity and the possibility for more to come. More prize money, and more high-profile events worldwide is the order of the day.

“I don’t think the person in the street in the UK realises how popular the game is worldwide.

“There are possibilities opening up all over the place, in countries where you wouldn’t believe. There’s snooker clubs in Iran and in Afghanistan.

“There’s a great young player from Iran who strugglers to get a visa, but he is good enough to be on the main tour.

“I have seen him play, he is a fantastic player.

“The game has spread its wings significantly and the long-term future is probably not based in the UK. Short-term, obviously there is the World Championship, UK Championship and the big BBC events.

“As long as the BBC wants snooker it will be supplied, through tradition they have the big events.

“But you get the feeling, somewhere down the line China is going to come up with a big-prize money event.

“They are going to start to threaten the prize money offfered at the World Championship and then that becomes an interesting time in snooker.

“If somebody is offering more prize money than the World Championship, what do you do? It’s a fascinating scenario.

“That is the power of the Chinese market now and it could be replicated in a number of places. India has growing economy and is showing a huge interest in the game.”

Davis is back in Sheffield on Wednesday, as he competes at the city’s English Institute of Sport in the World Championship qualifiers. He needs to win two matches to secure a return to the Crucible.

Leeds potter David Grace fell in qualifying 10-9 to Craig Steadman on Saturday. Belgian teenager Luca Brecel, who last year became the main event’s youngest debutant, suffered a surprise defeat to Scottish amateur Fraser Patrick, 10-6.