Stephen Hendry calls for snooker chalk ban as Ronnie O'Sullivan's choice sparks debate

Seven-times world champion Hendry made his comments and called for a ban during the latest episode on his award-winning YouTube channel ‘Cue Tips’.

Whilst playing multiple-time world pool champion Gareth Potts at Chinese 8-ball, the two discussed recent incidents surrounding players’ choice of chalk and were agreement that something should be done by cuesports governing bodies to outlaw certain brands.

One of the biggest innovations the billiards world has ever seen occurred several years ago with the introduction of a new chalk from Finnish cuesports equipment company Taom.

The revolutionary chalk soon received worldwide acclaim from players over its ability to reduce the number of bad contacts - or ‘kicks’ as they’re often known as - and inconsistent bounces off cushions whilst they’re in action on the baize.

The vast majority of cuesport professionals now use Taom - or similar brands on the market - with very few top players sticking to the traditional ‘Triangle’ chalk brand that almost all snooker players in the UK were brought up with. Taom is even the ‘Official Chalk Partner’ of the World Snooker Tour.

“It's ruining the spectacle of the sport” Hendry wants a ban

But whilst some cueists still use the ‘old-style’ chalk - which they’re perfectly entitled to do - this can lead to their opponent, who could be using a new brand, getting bad contacts as the balls and table are shared.

Widely recognised as the greatest snooker player of all-time, seven-times world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan continues to use the Triangle brand of chalk.

Potts - who has won major titles in both the English and Chinese 8-ball pool worlds - kicked off the conversation suggesting: “If somebody’s using a piece of chalk that is effectively and subsequently making what I do, making me miss, making me get a big bounce - at what point do the governing bodies of all these organisations have to say 'you have to use a specific chalk’.

In response, Hendry was very sure of his reply, pointing to a match between O’Sullivan and John Higgins at this year’s World Championship where the two cueists were using different chalk.

“I think Triangle should be banned in snooker” said the seven-times world champion.

“I don't think you should be allowed to use it because...it's ruining the spectacle of the sport because the players that are using it, ie - I think Ronnie (O’Sullivan) and Luca (Brecel), I want to say - there might be others.

“I mean you see when Ronnie played John (Higgins) in the World Championship. John, the amount of times he came to the table wiping, and a little smirk on his face like knowing because there were bounces”.

Snooker chalk situation edging towards ‘gamesmanship’ says Hendry

Thirty-six time ranking event winner Hendry went further, believing that a player could deliberately use a different type of chalk to their opponent’s in an attempt to unsettle them.

“I think it's spoiling; I think it's a way of almost, it's almost like, it's not gamesmanship but it's almost going that way.

“You're ruining the conditions because you know it's going to affect your partner”.

This is not the first time that a big star name from the snooker world has put forward the idea of banning the old-style chalk. At the aforementioned World Championship back in the spring, former Crucible winner Neil Robertson told the BBC it should be “banned from the game” because “it makes an absolute mess of the table”.

The World Snooker Tour has previously stated that players are free to use whichever chalk they want, but the sport has started seeing some club venues outlawing the use of ‘Triangle’ in a bid to preserve the cloths on their tables.

Potts pointed to the fact that certain items from other sports have been banned - like pieces of clothing in athletics, and the belly putter in golf - adding: “I do think when it's getting to the point where you're affecting what your opponent's doing” as a case for its ban in cuesports.