Richard Hercock: Lee is delighted to be driving Hearn’s snooker bandwagon

The big television screen is erected in the square outside, and theatre-goers are replaced by those strange anoraks that are committed snooker fans – and I count myself amongst those – who start milling around the Steel City.

Yes, the bandwagon that is the Betfred.com World Championship is well and truly back in town this week as Sheffield prepares for Saturday’s launch of snooker’s blue riband event.

Under World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn, the sport has been on a steep incline over the last two years, with more tournaments around the world, prize money on the increase and players challenged to meet the new workload.

One of those who has thrived in the new scene is Stephen Lee, held up as the game’s poster boy last week by Hearn for the way he has kick-started his career as snooker looks to emulate the tour success of tennis and golf.

Previously, the sport revolved around six tournaments, but now there almost 30 on the calendar with the promise of an even busier 2012-13 season.

The former world No 5 had fallen out of the top 20 and was playing barely 20 days of competitive snooker a year as recently as two years ago.

His enthusiasm waned, and it seemed Lee, pictured, was nearing the end of his career.

But the 37-year-old Trowbridge player has a ranking title to his name this season after earning £70,000 for triumphing in the PTC Grand Final. He has also reached the World Open final and semi-finals at the German Masters and China Open.

Speaking at last week’s World Championship launch, Hearn said: “Stephen Lee is for me the greatest advert I have for what can go right in snooker and justifies all the plans we’ve had.

“A bloke that was going nowhere is now tipping taxi drivers.

“He’s got off his backside and put the work in.

“So you’ve got to decide if you’re a professional sportsman or a part-time playboy. Part-time playboys lay in bed and go skint. Professional sportsmen make money for their families and for their future.”

Hearn is determined to get tough with players, asking them to put 100 per cent effort into being a full-time snooker player while, in return, rewarding them with lucrative prize money.

Some of the sport’s top players, like Ronnie O’Sullivan, have been less than impressed with being forced to compete at minor events in order to keep their ranking points ticking over and maintain their coveted top 16 spots.

But Lee sounds like he is one of the converted.

“My revival is all down to Barry’s good work, giving us tournaments every week,” he said. “I struggled a couple of years ago when we had six events and I felt like I had a monkey on each shoulder screaming at me every shot I took on.

“I’ve been enjoying my snooker in the last three months and I’ve got rid of those monkeys.

“I’ve enjoyed getting out of bed in the mornings, when before I wasn’t getting out of bed in the mornings.”

Come Saturday morning, everyone will be out of their beds for the 10am cue-off and I wish I had a £1 for every time I am asked for my tip to lift the trophy at the Crucible.

I first reported from the World Championship 20 years ago, but have been a regular since 2005 when I interviewed a young pretender who told me he would be crowned world champion. I nodded respectfully, thinking maybe his confidence exceeded his ability.

A month later, Shaun Murphy had stunned the sporting world by beating all-comers and was crowned champion of the world. He brought a vibrant, long potting game which blew his rivals away and left me kicking myself that I did not have a flutter on this rank outsider.

Last year, Judd Trump delivered a similar feat. Having won the China Open in the build-up to the Crucible, he had given warning of his ability and did not disappoint a sport which is crying out for fresh young talent who can combine ability on the table with a charisma to attract a new generation of fans.

Trump went all the way to a final before finally falling at the last hurdle as John Higgins triumphed, but he had announced himself on the big stage.

And he had brought the world of Twitter to snooker, often tweeting during the interval in his matches.

It is a world away from the game’s legends like Jimmy White, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry, who all had to suffer the humbling experience of qualifying just to reach the televised stages at the Crucible.

As for potential winners this year, I am inclined to sit on the fence once more.

With world No 1 Mark Selby looking an unlikely starter due to a neck injury which plagued him in the China Open, and Higgins enduring a poor run of form, the field looks wide open.

Australian Neil Robertson enjoys the Crucible so I expect another good campaign for the left-hander, and Trump may well benefit of having a year on the tour under his belt.

Or can Ding Junhui, who has made Sheffield his home for many years since moving from China, finally see his ability and potential materialise into the world title he has long been tipped for?

That would send the Chinese media, who descend on the Crucible for a sport their nation is loopy about, into overdrive and give Hearn’s vision of a thriving world sport another shot in the arm.

With the BBC beaming pictures across the globe, whoever is crowned world champion, you can be assured that the real winner in Sheffield will be Hearn and the game of snooker. Let battle commence.