By Elliott west
“For me, there’s potential to play in front of a whole new fanbase, there’s a lot of people who watch snooker and don’t watch pool and vice versa. I think for me, it’s all about trying to find that middle ground and getting different people interested in different things, and getting people to open their eyes to see what’s going on. It’s a chance for me to get on their radar and hopefully I can put on a good showing of myself and hopefully nobody hates me after the tournament! Hopefully, I can bring them back across to snooker and hopefully in the future combine them both and make them both as big as possible.”
Judd Trump
Introduction
Excitement has descended on the world of the snooker with the announcement that Judd Trump will be travelling to the USA to compete in the US Open Pool Championship later this month, a nine-ball tournament, to be broadcast on Sky Sports. The tournament that takes place between 13-18 September at Harrah’s Resort, Atlantic City, will see Judd Trump compete. Former 2006 WEPF World Eight-ball champion, Mark Selby, will also be travelling to the USA to take part in the Ultimate Pool Pairs Cup with Mark playing alongside his brother-in-law, Gareth Potts. Trump’s camp has been very clever by accepting this golden opportunity to compete on a world stage in another cue sport and he will follow in the footsteps of Steve Davis, Tony Drago, Alex Higgins, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White, who have all turned their hand to pool during their snooker careers, most notably the Mosconi Cup.
A Stroke of Genius
Judd decided to cherrypick this tournament because it has the most heritage and prestige to it and if you are going to win a pool tournament, this one would be the icing on the cake. Trump loves a challenge and will definitely get one by accepting this mammoth task, being thrown into the deep end of something that hopefully ends up with him brandishing silverware at the end of the mission. Either way, this is an experiment and allows a top-ranking snooker player to use his vast ammunition of skills and titles in snooker and try to convert them into a winning formula in another like-minded sport. It is highly risky but one that could potentially reap massive rewards.
Spreading the Word
Behind the hype of this media announcement, lies a very specific task. This is to try and break into the American market. World Snooker has a long-term goal of globalising snooker and by using their players in another field, it not only showcases their skills to an American audience but makes them aware of a sport that is still small fry across the country. Snooker clubs do exist in America, with clubs dotted around in cities such as New York and Washington. A Pan American Snooker and Billiards Association and the United States Snooker Association exist with various tournaments taking place across the season but they are not highly publicised and there still seems to be little hunger or demand from the American public for snooker, still leaning towards the prevalent game of pool in bars and clubs across the country.
America has not to date, produced a credible snooker player and with Judd going to compete in America, this could change and at the very least, open the doors to bringing a tournament to this country. Shrewd businessmen and potential sponsors would be foolish to look a gift horse in the mouth by turning this potential golden opportunity down, especially with the vast number of television sports networks that exist across this vast country.
Judd has been chosen to lead this mission because he is young, current and extremely successful. He had a dream to play pool and this is now being made a reality. He appreciates pool and wants to stamp his authority on it, adding another string to his bow and bringing with his legion of supporters that have applauded him on the green baize as he now dips his toe into the pool platform.
Summary
The jury is out on whether Judd Trump can be successful in this pool challenge but if anyone can do it. It is a highly risky undertaking but one that reaps benefits even if he doesn’t lift the trophy. As well as highlighting the players, this is a marketing mission and allows Matchroom to test the waters of the American market and hopefully make inroads to one that is complex and allows few outsiders to succeed in. This is a brilliant opportunity and has to be seized, exciting times for both sports and bringing a seismic charge to the market as we emerge from the pandemic.
