Jason Ferguson has shared a desire to see snooker at the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane following Zhao Xintong’s emphatic win at the Crucible on Monday. However, Ronnie O’Sullivan may not be keen on the idea.
Zhao, 28, stunned the world when he defeated Mark Williams 18-12 in the final of the World Snooker Championship, making history as the first Asian to lift the coveted major. And according to Ferguson, who is the chair of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it could help the sport make it to the Summer Games. Speaking on the notion, Ferguson told TNT Sports: “Realistically, Australia is a target.
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“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 has never been a part of the Olympic roster, despite unsuccessful applications for Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. However, things could change given the history that Zhao has recently made, further proving that the sport has exciting challengers in every corner of the world and not just in the United Kingdom.
On the cause, Ferguson added: “We need to see snooker in this country treated like a major Olympic sport; that’s the difference. We have Sport England recognition, but we do need to get the sport treated the same as others.
“Maybe it’s the introduction into events like the Commonwealth Games, the Olympics, maybe even the Paralympics, that matters.” And while many players of the sport will also share the same viewpoint as Ferguson, O’Sullivan has insisted in the past that he’s not overly keen on the idea of making snooker an Olympic event.
Speaking back in 2015 as a campaign was launched for the game’s inclusion at Tokyo 2020, the seven-time world champion said: “A World Championship, UK Championship or Masters title would always come before Olympic gold,” adding: “Does it mean that much to a snooker player? We all want to be world champion.”
On the problems that it would pose for players, he added: “Any athlete who goes to the Olympics – that is their goal, that is what they train for for four years. From one Olympics to the next, that is all they are thinking about.
