China or Sheffield for World Championships?

[Odrl]

What's ridiculous about calling it the World Championship? Its a standard name in many sports for the biggest event on the calendar. The name implies nothing like what you are saying. (It just so happens that the athletics world championship is like what you say, and probably what you are refering to, but so what.) They do not have a monopoly on the name and format of "a world championship".

Well no, the "world championship" is not a standard name for the biggest event in a sport. It's a standard name for a specific kind of event, in terms of organization and participation. It just so happens that this event is usually the most prestigious event on a sport's calendar. The name implies that it's organized by an international governing body, in which every country where snooker is played is represented, and a limited number of places are awarded to countries depending on how successful they are. That body also chooses a different venue each year, and every country has a chance to organize it. The players then represent their country in the championship, get a medal for finishing 3rd or higher, and the winner gets to listen to his national anthem in the medals ceremony. That's what the name implies. It's certainly not specific to athletics, but if you want to take that as a perfect example, by all means do so.

Now, if there is an event that is "bigger" than the kind of event I described, it doesn't just assume the name "world championship". In tournament-based sports such as snooker, the biggest tournaments are synonymous with a certain place and venue, or at least should be. The biggest tournament in tennis is not called the world championship, because everyone knows that it's not. And there are no suggestions to move it to China either, because everybody recognizes it as a British event. All I'm saying is that it should be the same with the Crucible event.

Its all hypothetical I know, but it is beyond me why on earth you would want to degrade an event (by renaming it) that obviously everybody including the fans and the pros look forward to as the BIG ONE and season finale, just so that some new event can challenge it as the World Championship (or whatever it is you would call it).

It's not about degrading it, just the opposite... It's about ensuring that the event keeps its history and its status as a British event, and that the venue doesn't ever change. We all know that by moving this event to another place, the continuity would be broken, and it would effectively become a different tournament.

I don't want to see a rival event established and forced down our throats in any sort of artificial way. You can't directly buy prestige, so it would need to happen over time. There are events that rival Wimbledon in tennis, each with their own identity and their place on the calendar. That was possible because Wimbledon doesn't use the name "world championship" without any legitimacy, and doesn't pretend to be anything other than a British-based and British-organized tournament. It's a situation that is fair on everyone.

So, what I am ultimately saying is that if there is ever a big tournament held in China, with long matches and prize money in the millions, we should ensure that it's an addition to the calendar, rather than a replacement for the Crucible event.

[wildJONESEYE]

its been called the World Championship since 1927 and they have played for that trophy since then and in that time its been played in Australia and every player in the World is eligible to play in it....

i do think it should be opened up where in resent times retired has-beens like Knowles could play in it but competitive players on the PIOS Tour couldn't that needs to change.

[spike]

Similar thread HERE

[Acrowot]

Very good post Odrl. Agree with all you say.
:snooker:

[philip in china]

China would be nice. Preferably Chengdu.

On the point about BBC coverage I was watching some of their live coverage of the election via the world service website. One fascinating item was a helicopter flying above Cameron's car as he went between 2 places. Yes they have your licence money to waste filming the roof of a car. So why not email them and ask what their plans are for what is still a hugely popular spectator sport?

[Acrowot]

philip in china.

One thing the BBC are good at, is wasting millions of pounds and not listening to its viewers.
:snooker: