Tourists from around the globe descend on Sheffield for ‘festival of snooker’ as World Championship
Huge crowds soaked up the atmosphere on Saturday in Sheffield.
Excited snooker fans from around the world descended on Sheffield to celebrate the return of the World Championship.
Tourists travelled from far and wide to get close to their snooker heroes at Friday’s Green Carpet event, with one avid fan even making the incredible 5,000 mile trip from Beijing to Sheffield to support his favourite player, Zhao Xintong, as he begins his title defence.
Speaking to the Star outside the Crucible on day one of the tournament: “I’ve got tickets for the first day and a few of the other matches. I wanted to go last year but couldn’t get a ticket. I just want Zhao to win again as he’s my favourite player.”
Snooker's popularity in China has grown at a rapid rate in recent years. The nation has 11 players competing in this year’s World Championship, making them the second most represented country behind England, with three featuring three Welshmen participating, while Scotland, Northern Ireland, Australia, Iran and Poland all have one player each competing.
The Zhao Xintong fan , who made the long journey from the Chinese capital to South Yorkshire added: “It’s the main sport that I play and watch now and I dream one day of being a pro.
He laughed: “I just play for fun now. I’ve got a lot of learning to do.”
Throughout the build-up to the event at Friday’s Green Carpet, and the opening day where fans gathered to listen to pundits like Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry at the Winter Garden’s Cue Zone, it becomes easy to see why many from both Sheffield and further afield are so delighted to see the sport remain here.
Jolien Dekonick, who travelled from Belgium to see the World Championship for the third year in a row, said: “I’m very happy. It’s much easier to travel to Sheffield from Belgium than it would be if the tournament moved to China or Saudi Arabia or something like that. I like it here.”
Another fan, who was playing snooker at the fan zone, added: “I just thought it was brilliant when they announced that it was staying. They’ve gone with tradition rather than money. It’s probably quite easy to go to Saudi or China or something like that but I just thought it was the right decision.
“It’s massive for the people, the economy and the buzz it creates. I’ve been a few times to the Crucible with the kids as well and it’s just great. It’s a great day out. The atmosphere is brilliant and I just have great memories.”
Alan Roll, who works at Cue Zone - Sheffield Winter Garden referred to the World Championship as essentially being a festival for the sport.
He said: “It’s brilliant news that it’s staying. Best news ever. It's a real proper home and I’m so glad it’s staying here. You can tell that when you walk around and talk to people how much it means. Many of the same people come from all over the country every year, and it’s wonderful. It's like a festival of snooker and the city really takes it to its heart I think.”