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SCMP Reporter

THE Cable TV Millennium International Snooker Cup could be developed into a world ranking tournament in three to four years, according to world-renowned cuemaster Ian Doyle.

 Doyle, the manager of a number of world-class players including seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, talked of Hong Kong's chances of staging its first professional ranking tournament since the 1990 Asian Open after Asian Games gold medallist Marco Fu Kar-chun crashed to a 5-0 defeat to Stephen Lee at the Regent Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui yesterday.

 Lee, 24, who maintained his dominance over Fu after his British Grand Prix final triumph, will face world number two Hendry in today's semi-final.

 World number four Ronnie O'Sullivan booked his place in the final after defeating fellow Briton Mark Williams 6-5 yesterday.

 Doyle said that with the rapid development of the sport in China and Hong Kong, and with the attraction of star player Fu, the region was now ready for a professional tournament.

 'I think we could build this [Millennium Cup] up to a ranking event in the next three to four years,' Doyle said.

 'I think the Asian market is going to be absolutely enormous. In some provinces in China, snooker has already become part of the school curriculum. You only need one star and Marco Fu is going to be the man,' Doyle said.

 'I haven't been in Hong Kong for eight years and I have seen there is a huge change.

 'There are a lot of British companies in China. I don't think money is a big problem.'  Doyle said one of the most important elements, however, was to seek input from the sport's world governing body in terms of coaching at junior level to encourage children to play the game.

 'We from the UK can help to do that. The important thing is to ensure that all these ingredients from the grassroots to the top are right,' Doyle said.

 He added that organisers had already started planning for next year's tournament.

 'We held a meeting with [promoter] API Prism this morning. In the coming weeks we can put a plan together to improve the event next year and the year after,' said Doyle. 'To improve it means to increase the number of top players that come here and, at the same time, give more opportunities to Asian players to compete in the tournament.'  The Hong Kong Billiards and Snooker Control Council has been interested in staging a ranking tournament but its earlier efforts were hampered by difficulties in fitting it into the calendar. Doyle, however, was unperturbed, saying that the professional snooker season was now operating for 10 months in a year.

 Fu, meanwhile, said while he was disappointed at not being able to play Hendry in the semi-finals, he was more dejected with the way he played in front of his fans.

 'There is a little pressure on me because it is the first time have I played top players in Hong Kong. My form is not really that good though. I couldn't get into the match,' the 21-year-old said.

 'I played much worse than I did in the British Grand Prix final. I would have lost 9-0 then if I played the way I played today.'  The first two frames were close between Fu and Lee and could have gone either way, but Hong Kong's golden boy couldn't capitalise on his chances.

 Fu can now concentrate on achieving his next objective - getting into the world's top 16 next season.

Aries Chow 



Asian snooker on the rise