By Elliott West
“I want to say this is probably the best tournament I’ve ever played in.”
Ronnie O’Sullivan
Introduction
As the dust starts to settle on the Hong Kong Masters, let’s take a moment to explore why this country has had such a long association with snooker and how at one point held more tournaments than China. A trend that may have waned in recent years but a love that remains vibrant and unbreakable. Players such as Franky Chan, Marco Fu and Ng On Yee have all blossomed in this Asian metropolis, a city that anyone who has visited, will know causes you to leave with a breathtaking memory.
The answers lie in the grassroots of snooker in Hong Kong. Talent breeds talent and the likes of former professional snooker player, David Roe and Terry Griffiths’ son Wayne decided to nurture talent at the Hong Kong Sports Institute. This is one of a labyrinth of academies that dot this island. Others include the East Asia Snooker Centre, 120 Snooker Club and the Masters Snooker Kingdom. All work relentlessly to home in on local talent and seek to produce professional champions of the future. A light year away from when Doug Mountjoy won the first Camus Hong Kong Masters in 1983.
Back to School
Hong Kong didn’t until quite recently have any snooker education in their schools. However, in 2018, Baniel Cheung, a huge snooker fan and a professor at Hong Kong University was looking for snooker classes for his son but came up against a brick wall. Yes, there were private lessons available but with no structured curriculum. Seizing the incentive, Cheung helped set up the Master Snooker Kingdom along with a group of friends including Marco Fu in their corner. A business that opened two years later in 2020.
Snooker clubs in Hong Kong had been an unwelcoming environment for children until this point and snooker was much misunderstood by the public. The backers of this new venture aimed to turn this tide. Fu as a child had been extremely shy, so much so that he froze on the table when someone was passing by him as he took a shot. However, snooker taught him to throw away the shackles of shyness, become more outgoing and battle the grey clouds of adversity. Vital life skills for any child growing up today.
Picking up a cue and starting to play snooker is usually down to a peer and in Marco’s case, it was due to his father. Perhaps the protective nature of parenthood prevented some from following this path but when encouragement is given and permission granted, the opportunities are numerous and the windows of success fly open. Learning a trade definitely makes you a better person and snooker is no exception. It strengthens your temperament and prepares you for every eventuality. Win or lose, no match is the same and you can either play out of your skin or stew in despair on your chair.
Endless Opportunities
The draw of snooker in Hong Kong is massive. You only have to look at the ticket sales for this year’s Hong Kong Masters. The audience dwarfed both the Masters and the German Masters with a record crowd of 7,000 for the final between Marco Fu and Ronnie O’Sullivan at the new venue of the Hong Kong Coliseum. Yes, Hong Kong is still taking no chances with Covid, a sea of masks was still present at this year’s event amongst the audience, players and referees. This is a brave, new world and with this fantastic tournament being transmitted on multiple television networks including Eurosport for the first time, it not only showcases snooker to millions of viewers but unleashes again the full potential of the Asian snooker market.
As the sun sets on Hong Kong harbour and the relentless hustle and bustle of this thriving island fail to abate, snooker is definitely in a good place here. The nation loves it in their droves and Marco Fu has overcome his optical problems to show signs of his true class. He is a national hero and rightly so, he has earned his place in the snooker annals and is as big in Hong Kong as Ding Junhui is in China or James Wattana in Thailand. This former British colony keeps on giving and its success here will only spur the aim of making snooker a global sport. The seats at the Hong Kong Masters may be set back from the table but the game is definitely in the hearts of their people. Don’t be surprised if further tournaments are announced in this vertical city with a heavy density of skyscrapers and somewhere with a vibrant culture and a fragrant harbour.
