“Barry Hearn is an experienced negotiator and, like us, wants only the best for the game. His involvement is attracting new tournaments and more television coverage,” said Milliken marketing director Duncan Kettell. “It proves that many people still enjoy snooker, with high-end snooker and pool clubs in the UK and Europe doing well despite the recession, and we continue to gain market share.”

Official cloth supplier to World Snooker for 31 years, Milliken is now watching with interest the progress of the Betfred.com World Championships, which kicked off in Sheffield in mid-April.

“We enjoy one of the world’s most successful tournament-supplier relationships, which goes back to 1980, when Cliff Thorburn was the first professional player to take the world title on Strachan cloth,” said Kettell. 
“Since then, 14 different players have won the world title and we now support all the major ranking tournaments worldwide. This has resulted in further exports to the Far East, where demand is increasing for high-quality cloth.”

And Kettell is convinced that the new management team at World Snooker is also having a positive impact in clubs, where owners are working hard to provide members with quality entertainment venues.
 “Snooker fans are now seeing their favourite players in action more often and also demanding better playing conditions for themselves. As long-term backers of snooker, we are delighted to see that interest in the game is on the up.”

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