China’s Zhao Xintong becoming world champion could help snooker’s bid to enter the Olympic Games, says the sport’s chair.
The 28-year-old became the first Chinese player to win the World Championship in Sheffield on Monday.
Jason Ferguson, chair of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), believes Zhao’s success will create opportunities for the sport in Asia as well as worldwide – while aiding its chance of being included at Brisbane 2032.
“Realistically, Australia is a target,” Ferguson said.
“We’re talking to all the multi-sport bodies. There’s a lot of politics involved, but the size of snooker and how important China is to the IOC [International Olympic Committee], someone has to look at this and say ‘this is now snooker’s time’.”
Snooker failed in its attempts to be included at both the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Games.
Welshman Williams described Zhao as a “superstar” after he defeated the three-time champion in the final.
Zhao became the first Asian player as well as the first amateur to triumph at the Crucible.
He returned from a 20-month ban in September, which he received for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal.
A total of 10 players from China were sanctioned in the scandal, which cast a shadow over the sport in the country.
But Ferguson is optimistic about the sport’s growth in China and believes Zhao, whose world title earned him 500,000 in prize money, could go on to become “the richest-earning player in the history of the sport”.
Ferguson added: “That’s quite a bold statement when you think about the titles players like Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan won.
“But the size of the market is huge and when you see the association of the brands who want to partner with snooker, it has endless potential.
“This is one of the biggest occasions snooker has seen. Snooker in China is treated like any national sport. To see a world champion returning to China a national hero is really going to send the sport to another level.”
