Hearn to snub any China bid for world finals

The tournament has been staged at the city’s Crucible theatre since 1977 and is contracted – with both the BBC and Sheffield City Council – to remain in the Steel City until 2017.

But China has long been a huge admirer of the event, and have the financial muscle to put together an attractive alternative to the Crucible.

But Hearn, the World Snooker chairman, yesterday told a packed Crucible media conference that he is determined to keep the World Championship in Sheffield, long after its 40th anniversary in 2017.

Hearn revealed prize money had rocketed from £3.5m in 2010 – when he took control of the sport – to £8m inside five years. This will climb to £8.5m next season, and £10m by 2016/17.

The Crucible prize money will also increase to £2m, with £500,000 for the winner.

But for a businessman who has thrived on making money from sport, Hearn insists the history and status of snooker at the Crucible is ‘priceless’.

“There are certain things which are not about the numbers, mainly my tombstone,” said Hearn.

“I quite like Spike Milligan’s version “I told you I was ill”. What I don’t want on mine is “this is the b****** who took snooker out of the Crucible”.

“I have been involved in snooker since 1974, been at the Crucible since 1977, you can’t take it away.

“You can be the hardest-nosed businessman in the world, I still get a lump in my throat when I see 1981 (when Steve Davis won his first world title), I still get nightmares when I see the black ball going in from Dennis Taylor.

“People like me, we make money, we are promoters, commercial animals. But there are certain things that you mustn’t touch.

“This is the game I play, I am not very good at snooker. I am not bad at this, this is my field of play.

“I know exactly where I am going.

“I am not going to take an extra £10m to take it to China. It sounds like a lot of money, but the damage – and everything you stand for – means much more than that.”

Hearn said negotiations with both the BBC and Sheffield City Council would “begin shortly” at extending the current deal beyond 2017.

When pushed further from Chinese journalists in Sheffield yesterday, about taking the World Championship to the Far East, Hearn was adamant snooker’s future remained in Yorkshire.

“The World Championship is staying here, it’s not going anywhere,” he responded.

“As Margaret Thatcher once said, ‘this woman is not for moving’, and I think I will take a leaf out of her book.

“This is not moving, no matter what money (offers) come in.

“The challenge for the China events, is to make them bigger. Not to take someone else’s big event and move it to China. You don’t buy history, you create history.”

Yesterday saw Hearn reflect on five years in charge of snooker, and revealed plans to continue to expand the sport.

A ‘Home Series’ will be launched during 2016/17, which will see an English Open in Manchester, Irish Open in Belfast and Scottish Open in Glasgow join the current Welsh Open, which is set in Cardiff. A £1m bonus will be offered to the player who can win all four titles.

There will also be a new European Open ranking event, while cutting back on some of the smaller tournaments currently staged around Europe.

And over the next five years, global Q Schools – which offer young players the chance to earn places on the professional Tour – will be instigated in Asia, Americas, Africa, Australasia and Europe.

“Complacency is a killer and we are not going to fall into that trap,” said Hearn. “The last five years for me personally have been five of the most motivating I have had in any sport. In June 2010 the prize money was £3.5m, this year we hit just over £8m.

“The prize money paid out during my first five years is a little over £12m than I guaranteed the players at the time of takeover.

“We haven’t got everything right, we have made some mistakes. We are not setting any silly targets, because we may surpass even silly targets. I am not going to be limited by anything other my own imagination.

“This statement today is a quantum leap from where we are, and it’s only just the beginning, we are miles away from peaking.”