Barry Hawkins reveals preference for temporary World Snooker Championship location during Crucible upgrades

The monumental announcement was made on Tuesday, with the World Snooker Tour declaring that the blue riband tournament will remain at the iconic Sheffield venue until at least 2045 following funding help from central government, and a deal with the city council.

As part of this historic agreement, the Crucible - which has hosted the annual World Snooker Championship since 1977 - will undergo building upgrades later this decade to improve facilities and include an extra 500 seats in the arena.

As a consequence, the 2029, and possibly 2030 editions of the Championship will be held at a temporary venue. It is unknown what the criteria for such a substitute venue, or venues, would be.

Hawkins feels 'the World Championship should always be in the UK'

Speaking exclusively to 247Bet following the huge announcement, former World Snooker Championship finalist Barry Hawkins - who has previously admitted to 'mixed feelings' over the Crucible - is happy that the refurbishment is coming.

The recently crowned Welsh Open champion said: “I’ve said before that I’ve got mixed feelings about the Crucible. You can’t deny its history and how special it is, but to attract the bigger sponsors and to grow as a sport, we probably need the upgrade.”

There is already debate online amongst fans as to where the World Snooker Championship will temporarily move to later this decade whilst the building work at the Crucible Theatre is performed.

Some have suggested that it would be a one-off opportunity to host it outside of the UK, perhaps in snooker fan hotbeds such as Germany or China.

Asked on his thoughts as to whether he would be open to seeing the tournament hosted abroad at a temporary venue in somewhere like China or Saudi Arabia, 46-year-old Hawkins was clear what his preference would be.

“I’m not so sure. There are pros and cons, but I’d prefer it to stay in the UK, to be honest. It just feels like the World Championship should always be in the UK. Ideally, in Sheffield" the five-time ranking event winner said.

“Obviously, the BBC cover the World Championship. It’s a big thing over here, and I’ve grown up watching it all my life in the UK. So yeah, I’d prefer it to stay here. It’s just, like I say, I think we’ve outgrown the Crucible now, unfortunately. At least in its current state.”

Should the decision be made to have the Championship staged in the Middle East or Asia whilst the Crucible is being done up, though, world number 11 Hawkins believes that China would be the most suitable location.

“I think China would be the favourite, more for the climate and stuff like that. It just lends itself to better conditions. Also, you would get better support out in China.

“At the moment, Saudi Arabia is an emerging market, really. We don’t really get the number of fans out there as we would like. It needs a bit more promotion over there before we can think about hosting the bigger tournaments out there, I think.

“So if it’s going to be played abroad, I’d probably say do it in China. I think that all of the players love going to China anyway. It’s a great place to be and to play snooker. But ultimately, I think I’d prefer it in the UK."

Hawkins enters the climax of the season in fantastic form following his title triumph in Llandudno a few weeks ago, although he has been nursing a back injury that led to him withdrawing from the recent World Open held in China.

'The Hawk' is set for a return to baize action at next week's Tour Championship in Manchester before being a seed for this year's World Championship at the Crucible.

18+ Be Gamble Aware