00:00Jason Ferguson is the chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.
00:05Jason, welcome. I'm guessing it was a huge party last night.
00:10Yeah, I think it could still be going on, to be quite honest with you.
00:13It was a huge party indeed, and quite right as well, after what a fantastic 17 days in Sheffield. Incredible.
00:20You've known Wu for years, and his father come to that.
00:24When you saw him lift the trophy at the Crucible in Sheffield, what went through your mind?
00:30It's just emotional. I've known Wu and his father and his mum, and you're sort of travelling on the journey
00:37with them,
00:38as young junior players, and their mums and dads are around, of all the young players,
00:42and you're kind of living the emotions with them, and the ups and downs.
00:46I can recall the date that Wu lost in the World Junior Championships that we were running in the semi
00:52-finals,
00:53and he was so close to earning his professional tour card a few years earlier.
00:57You know, his father was there. What are we going to do, chairman? How are we going to make it?
01:02And the struggles. And then to actually see him go all the way, not just join the professional tour and
01:08make a career out of it,
01:09but actually to become the sport's biggest star and become the world champion.
01:13And I have to say, I had a little moment with his father just behind the closed doors before we
01:18walked out into the arena last night,
01:19and I think we both shed a tear or two, to be quite honest.
01:23We've all seen the pictures of him playing. You know him. What's he really like?
01:28He's just a lovely young boy. He's cool. He's got great hair. He's really fashionable.
01:36But he's just a nice, nice person. And, you know, it's great to have. We're lucky.
01:41We're really blessed in our sport with really great athletes and really great people that represent it.
01:46And, you know, and likewise his opponent, Sean Murphy, spoke so highly of him last night.
01:50And it's just a credit to the game. But it is a really nice guy.
01:54It's very exciting to watch. He's a great player. Plays the game properly, how it should be played.
01:58How significant is it, do you think, for China to have two world champions in successive years?
02:06It's a big moment in snooker. I mean, I was working out in China, you know, over 20 years ago,
02:11with the start of the development work, before Ding Zhonghui became the national hero.
02:16And, you know, to see Josh and Tong go on and win a tournament and win the world championship,
02:22and then to see it happen again the following year with a new player.
02:26Now, we've always thought that Wu Zer was going to break through,
02:29and he had a little breakthrough winning the international championships this year in China.
02:32Another big event, long-frame format, and a real test.
02:36So what does it mean? It means sustainability of a market.
02:40It's a huge market for snooker. 300,000 clubs.
02:43We have a vast television audience, hundreds of millions of people.
02:46And the sport is just massive. This means sustainability for us as a governing body.
02:51In music, they always talk about the difficult second album.
02:55How difficult is it going to be for Wu to follow up on this first title?
03:01Well, I mean, we have this little thing floating around.
03:03I'm not superstitious, but everybody talks about the crucible curse, you know,
03:07the turning up the following year and going out.
03:09And winning back-to-back titles is very difficult in any season,
03:14winning two world championships back-to-back.
03:16When you think the extreme test of it, you know, it does make it so difficult to do.
03:22He will turn up there as world champion. He will no longer be the underdog.
03:25And that's a slightly different mental attitude.
03:27So it will be a big test then.
03:30I'm guessing this is also going to be a huge inspiration to the next generation of snooker players,
03:36given how young he is.
03:38Yes, you know, 22 years old.
03:40I mean, and there are plenty of other young players around.
03:43I mean, we've got great players right across Europe, actually.
03:45I mean, we're seeing a real boost in snooker across Europe.
03:48And the one thing Wieser will be doing is inspiring those young players.
03:53You know, Eastern Europe, with a great young player, Mikhail Subacek,
03:56coming from Poland, only 15 years of age, won his tour card.
04:00So, you know, Wieser is providing the inspiration for the next generation.
04:04And again, that comes back to the work we do as a governing body.
04:08It's encouraging to us.
04:09We have a really sustainable model in snooker.
04:11And I do not see our sport shrinking.
04:13I only see it growing.
04:14Jason, we'll let you return to the party.
04:17Jason Ferguson, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Sneaker Association in Sheffield.
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