Shaun Murphy surprisingly spoke complimentarily about the current state of snooker, not long after Mark Allen and Judd Trump both criticised playing conditions and multiple venues. The inception of the independent Professional Snooker Players Association (PSPA) has given the stars of the billiard world an opportunity to air their grievances to the powers that be.
Trump wasted little time in making his complaints known, particularly when it came to the facilities used in multiple tournaments. He even warned the World Snooker Tour (WST) and the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) multiple players will voluntarily drop out of tournaments if the issues raised are not acted upon, while Allen believes the PSPA has been “too quiet” ever since its formation in August. However, Murphy went against his fellow former world champions and instead looked at the snooker world with a glass half full viewpoint.
Murphy told The Metro: “I think the tour should always be looking to increase their standards and do things better. I think they’re to be praised recently because they’ve started liaising with the players a lot more.
“Every tournament now there’s a feedback form sent to everybody. Every player gets that opportunity to put their words down on paper and put their money where their mouth is, so to speak.
“I don’t think there’s a massive turnout from the players, but they certainly can no longer say they don’t have the opportunity to contribute to a better tour. In fairness, I think World Snooker Tour are trying their best to make the tournaments as good as they can.”
Allen also had some words of criticism for the PSPA, stating things have been moving too slowly, even if their intentions are good. He said: “It’s been very quiet. I’m sure that the guys that are running it are doing things in the background. Bodies like that don’t form overnight.
“I think it’s taking a while to get going. The conversations that I’ve been part of, it’s not through a lack of want or desire. John [Higgins] is doing a great job of leading it and I think the whole idea of trying to bring all the players together under one roof in an independent fashion, bringing the players under an independent canopy can only be good.”
After Trump claimed he and other snooker stars feel “nothing really gets changed” with the issues they raise and many of their concerns have been falling “on deaf ears” the WST released a statement claiming they are taking the players’ comments on board.
They said: “Our biggest events like the Triple Crown Series and Tour Championship have grown massively in recent years so the top players have got used to playing in huge events at outstanding venues.”
They also added ticket sales “are stronger than ever” using the English and British Open as an example of events which had “packed arenas throughout the week.”