Hearn hoping to spruce up snooker

Barry Hearn has vowed to spruce up snooker after the players voted him into power on a historic day for the sport.

The veteran sports promoter saw off a late challenge from former Olympic shooting competitor John Davison, who only announced his interest last week.

Hearn can now effectively run snooker according to his whim but will face swift rebellion should he fail to deliver on his pledges.

He will initially pay £255,000 (€305,377) for a controlling 51% share in World Snooker, which will be detached from the regulatory World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.

The 61-year-old has achieved great success in darts, as chairman of the breakaway Professional Darts Corporation, and believes he can do the same for snooker, with the onus on bolstering the calendar by bringing in more tournaments.

"I think we need a three-year plan, and we need to create a possibility to get them playing all the time," said Hearn.

"I want them playing every weekend of the year.

"That would be the same as darts and hopefully we'll have the same success that we've had with darts."

Hearn has already added a quick-fire Shoot-Out tournament, a ranking event in Germany, a World Seniors Championship and a Player Tour Championship series, and prize money will rise from £3.5m (€4.19m) in 2009/10 to £4.5m (€5.38m) in 2010/11.

Since taking over as WPBSA chairman in December - a role he will now relinquish - Hearn has also brought in sponsorship funds to a sport which was struggling to attract corporate backing, and his strong relationships with broadcasters are yielding positive results.

Hearn gained control of the World Snooker business after a vote of 35-29 in his favour at a WPBSA extraordinary general meeting in Sheffield.

Stars including Stephen Hendry and Peter Ebdon were backing Davison, as was Lee Doyle, chairman of the management group 110Sport who have many leading players - including Hendry and Ebdon - on their books.

However, Hearn had won over many others during his six-month stint as head of the WPBSA.

Last month he remarked that during a behind-closed-doors meeting with players he was challenged to outline his wealth, and on doing so it dawned on many of those present that he was in snooker primarily because of his passion for the sport.

Hearn has managed Steve Davis throughout the six-time world champion's career, and his Matchroom business has run a professional league for 25 years.

Now, with a greater influence, he is determined that everyone in the sport should pull together to deliver results.

"We said after the meeting that we've drawn a line in the sand, and all the problems in the past, all the politics, are history," Hearn said.

"We've got strong leadership. Where are we going to go from here? We know we've got a big job.

"The result was very satisfying, and for me it's personally been one of the most satisfying days of my life."