CHRIS WAKELIN reckons snooker bosses should experiment by allowing fans to make noise during frames – and even stage the action in huge arenas like darts.
The Rugby potter attended the play-offs at the O2 Arena in May as a guest of top sports promoter Barry Hearn.
Chris Wakelin reckons snooker bosses should allow fans to make noise during frames Credit: Alamy
Wakelin would like snooker to take a page out of darts’ book Credit: Alamy
And he marvelled at ’s stunning victory in the semis and final – both in final-leg deciders – in front of a raucous crowd of 16,000 people.
, by its nature, is played in silence, so cueists can concentrate on hitting the cue ball, in small and intimate surroundings.
The only exception is during the Shoot Out, a single-frame knockout competition, where punters, often driven by booze, go a bit wild.
The biggest annual crowds are in or at Ally Pally for the Masters but these are capped at 2,300.
– speaking on behalf of Unibet, the title partner of the British Open for the third consecutive year – reckons baize bigwigs could try something different.
Especially as they have to move the away from the Crucible in 2029 and 2030 during a period of redevelopment of the Sheffield Theatre.
Wakelin, 34, told SunSport: “My partner Lucy and I had some of the best seats in the house and we were very well looked after.
“ is an amazing sport. To be able to experience that, with upwards of ten thousand people at the O2, was an amazing memory for us. Darts once was played in silence as well, in the old Jocky Wilson days.
“Why can’t snooker be more like that? I mean the Shoot Out doesn’t really sell that spectacle to the players, the media or the fans.
“If you just put on a normal ranking event and went right, there’s music in the background, players and spectators are just wandering around.
“Everyone knows the deal, there’s no shouting and screaming and whistling per se. But there’s no reason why we can’t trial that sort of atmosphere.
“I suppose even darts players can’t believe they’re playing in these sorts of arenas on a weekly basis. So why can’t snooker gravitate towards that in the future?
“They’re talking about relocating the world championship for a couple of years while the Crucible is being revamped.
“Why don’t they put it somewhere where there are five, six, ten or 20,000 seats. Put two tables in the middle and see what happens.
“Barry might look back at that after the first year, having played in front of an unlimited number of fans.
“It means that the ticket prices could be more accessible. Put it somewhere in the middle of the country, wherever everyone can get to it. Who knows? It could go in the right direction, should we say.”
The 2026 Unibet British Open will run from August 31 to September 6 in the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham Racecourse.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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