Ronnie O’Sullivan remains the biggest draw in snooker despite his waning powers (Image: Getty)
says stars owe it to fans new and old not to leave all the entertaining to While the UK Championship – one of the sport’s traditional majors – begins this weekend, the sport has put down roots in Saudi Arabia this year with two cash-laden events.
The Riyadh Season World Masters in the spring was followed by the Saudi Arabia Masters, a ranking event, which saw Trump walk away with the £500,000 top prize following a dramatic victory over Mark Williams. While the event was largely deemed a success, the sparse crowds, especially in the early days of the tournament, didn’t go unnoticed.
And most of the fans who did attend were there for O’Sullivan, admits Trump. The Bristol cueman says it shouldn’t be down to one man to promote the sport to new audiences and says other players, himself included, could do their bit by playing a more exciting brand of snooker.
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“The crowds weren’t what we wanted at the start but when you go to a new country or even go back to the first staging of a snooker tournament over here, there wasn’t a full crowd because no one knew what was going on,” said Trump in an exclusive interview for
“It’s very narrow-minded to expect a sell-out of a thousand people in a new country. I saw in the previous tournament in Saudi Arabia, people started coming in at the end of the tournament.
“I think some of the blame [for the low crowds] has to do with the players. They’re not exciting enough, including myself. You have to put yourself out there.
“Everyone turned out for Ronnie. The crowds are there but it’s up to the players to play more attacking, free-flowing, exciting snooker. It’s down to us to make the sport more enjoyable.”
Judd Trump at the Saudi Arabia Masters, where he won the £500,000 top prize earlier this season (Image: Getty)
When it’s put to Trump that he does entertain, he replied: “I try to. I’m probably not as exciting as I used to be as I want to win all the money!
“I try to find the right balance but it is difficult. Some players maybe find that more difficult than myself and don’t promote themselves to the fans as much as they possibly could.”
Next up is one of the sport’s traditional majors, the UK Championship in York, which begins today (Saturday) with defending champion O’Sullivan facing Barry Hawkins in the first round at 1pm. Trump begins his campaign against Neil Robertson on Tuesday.
Ronnie O’Sullivan begins his UK Championship defence against Ronnie O’Sullivan (Image: Getty)
So do events like the UK Championship and the Masters still mean as much following the arrival of Saudi and its riches on the scene?
“They’re still special,” insisted Trump. “You’re never going to take away the gravity of those tournaments. But when you play for that kind of money [in Saudi] and you come back and the first prize isn’t as big, it’s not going to feel as big.
“In the next three to five years, it [the Saudi Masters] is going to be up there as the second or third biggest event. It’s not just the prize money but how the tournament felt as a whole. If the crowds were full, there’s no doubt it would be the second biggest [after the World Championship].”