After a tough 12 months for snooker, Barry Hearn is relishing the idea of a full house for the world championship final
There is not much that leaves Barry Hearn lost for words. But after what the 72-year-old says has been the most turbulent 12 months of his professional life, the prospect of a sold-out Crucible on 3 May for the crowning of snooker’s next world champion forces even the effervescent Hearn to pause. Then, he utters one word. “Special.”
Saturday marks the start of the 2021 world championship, almost 40 years to the day since Hearn sprung on to our screens for the first time, when he raced down the steps of the Crucible to embrace his friend and client, Steve Davis, after he won the first of what would be six world titles. “There isn’t a day I don’t think about that,” he says. “It was a crucial point for me in my life because I’d found my niche. Some people aren’t that lucky. Can you believe it’s been 40 years? I think we’ve done OK since then, haven’t we?”