Snooker stars fail to draw crowd as Hong Kong exhibition event falls flat for second day running
- Queen Elizabeth Stadium venue sparsely populated as organisers defend ticket prices
- Source says cost of bringing Ronnie O’Sullivan and others to city in excess of HK$6.5 million
The troubled Hong Kong Snooker All-Star Challenge again struggled to draw crowds on Tuesday, but organisers said they did not regret their aggressive pricing strategy.
Queen Elizabeth Stadium was visibly empty for a second day, with around only one-fifth of the 3,500 seats occupied. Those that did go watched local favourite Marco Fu Ka-chun beat Jack Lisowski 5-2 to keep the world No 18 from Cheltenham winless over the two days.
Gentle Hui, the executive president of organisers Beyond Borders Sports Academy, would not say if the overall attendance had met with initial expectations.
“I am more concerned if the spectators and the players were satisfied with their respective arrangements,” he said. “As for myself, there were too many considerations … … I did not really have any particular number of attendances [I need] in mind.”
While organisers also declined to reveal whether they were likely to reach their stated goal of making a profit, suggesting only there was “room for improvements”, a business insider told the Post it had cost in excess of HK$6.5 million (US$830,000) to bring the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and Mark Williams to Hong Kong.
“That was only the sum paid to the players, with all other costs excluded,” the source said.
