Stephen Hendry voices worry over snooker’s future in China
Stephen Hendry feels snooker’s popularity in China could start to wane, saying there is a ‘slight danger of saturation’ after the sport’s explosion in the country since 2005.
The snooker boom in China began over 20 years ago thanks to Ding Junhui’s spectacular emergence at the top of the game.
The teenage Ding grabbed the attention of his homeland by winning the 2005 China Open, beating Hendry in the final.
By the end of that year he had won the UK Championship, beating another legend in the final in Steve Davis, and sparked huge passion for the sport that had only been a very niche interest previously.
There are now around 300,000 snooker clubs in China and more players have followed Ding to the top of the game, including reigning world champion Wu Yize and the man who became the first Chinese world champ last year, Zhao Xintong.
A substantial amount of the professional tour is now based in the huge nation, with this week’s Shenzhen Open one of five ranking events on mainland China this season, while another, the World Grand Prix, is staged in Hong Kong. The non-ranking Shanghai Masters has also become a big event on the circuit.
Are you snooker loopy?
You’re in the right place. I’m Phil Haigh, and I cover the game we all love for Metro.
In my newsletter, The Table, I analyse the biggest talking points, pull back the curtain on the sport and crown the biggest winners and losers every week.
Sign up here.
The Shenzhen Open is a new event on the calendar and attracted big crowds on the first day of action on Monday, with World Snooker Tour reporting that approximately 3,800 tickets were sold for the evening session, which featured Zhao and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
There are also huge numbers from China in terms of TV viewing figures, with WST stating of Zhao’s 2025 Crucible final win over Mark Williams: ‘The third session of the final alone was watched by 24.59 million unique viewers across China.’
There is no doubt that the sport is extremely popular in China, but Hendry says he has spotted evidence that interest is waning on one front.
Ask Metro
Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications.
‘I think there’s a slight danger of saturation in China, I actually do,’ the seven-time world champion said on WST’s Snooker Club podcast.
‘You see it on the other side of it, on the exhibition circuit out there. I wouldn’t say it’s drying up but players were getting absolute fortunes for playing exhibitions. The money, the appearance fees, these players were getting fortunes for one night’s work and those fees are coming down because, basically, it’s a saturation point.
‘Although they [tournaments] are still huge, you see the support at the opening ceremonies, the fans come out, the fans love it. Snooker is very, very popular, but I just worry, are we getting too much of it? I don’t know.’
The interest from promoters in staging professional events does not appear to be on the slide, with the China Open returning to the calendar this season in style.
The Chinese events were lost during the Covid pandemic and the China Open, which was traditionally the biggest in the country, was slow to return but was played in August for the first time since 2019.
It returned in a new home of Taiyuan and with a huge prize fund of £1.2million, as Mark Selby picked up the winner’s cheque worth £250,000.
MORE: Graeme Dott sentenced to seven years in prison for sexually abusing children
MORE: Ronnie O’Sullivan beaten in Shenzhen Open first round by ‘Unstoppable Rising Star’
MORE: Why the Shenzhen Open is a huge week for five snooker stars
Stephen Hendry voices worry over snooker’s future in China
#Stephen #Hendry #voices #worry #snookers #future #China
