Williams and Hendry support restructuring

Snooker chief Sir Rodney Walker has welcomed news that some of snooker’s top stars will support moves to restructure the sport.

Walker, chairman of World Snooker Limited, hopes his blueprint for a brighter future will be passed at next week’s Extraordinary General Meeting in Preston.

And he is delighted that leading professionals from the 110 Sport Management stable – including world champion and world number one Mark Williams and seven times world champion Stephen Hendry – will back his plans for reform.

However, it’s unlikely there won’t be the same goodwill for any moves to change the current ranking system.

Walker said: “This is excellent news and hopefully it means we will be able to go forward and make the changes that the sport desperately needs.

“I would like to thank the players for their support and I would also like to pay tribute to the WPBSA Board for their role in creating this opportunity.

“It is their foresight and their selfless determination to put the good of snooker first which has made this possible.

“It was the board who believed I should have a much greater influence in developing a strategy for the future and in the way the sport is governed.

The reaction of 110 Sport Management is most encouraging.

“Ultimately, it is the members who own the sport who will make decisions at the EGM. This is very good news indeed, at this time all involved in the sport must work together to secure a brighter future.”

In a letter written to all professional snooker players sent out last week, Walker informed members that unless urgent reforms are undertaken he fears for the future of the sport.

He wants to bring in a number of high calibre non-executive directors to add extra expertise to the board.

Leading manager and 110 Sport chairman Ian Doyle, a regular critic of the game’s governing body, said: “It’s time for the current board to go and I welcome plans to bring in people with business expertise. That’s something I’ve always advocated.

“But we cannot support changes to the ranking system because we haven’t any idea what they are going to be.”