Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy are in agreement that the sport of snooker needs improvement when it comes to promotion and marketing. Both players were left underwhelmed at the recent World Grand Prix in Hong Kong, with World No. 1 Trump in particular opining that it was less impressive than last year's maiden event at the Kai Tak Arena.

While the tournament saw a major boost in terms of prize money as a result of the move, Trump claimed that the tournament disappointed in terms of meeting expectations. He said: "It was a little bit disappointing because obviously the Hong Kong one kind of feels like a home event, but it's very flat in the arena. The crowds were poor.

"It felt like it had gone downhill from the year before, I think. My first game was built up in the first year of that tournament. I remember walking in, and it was a great atmosphere, but this year it just felt like a bit of a secondary event compared to the year before."

Explaining the reason he felt that the atmosphere was so dry, Trump added: "I just think from the people I speak to, my girlfriend and friends, people just don't know about the event. The marketing is just very, very poor, I think.

"There's still not enough exposure for that kind of thing. Not enough money is spent. I think it's something that snooker's always struggled with around the world, a lack of willing to spend money to make money back, I think.

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"A lot of times I go to places in the UK and people are like, 'What are you doing here?' Just silly things like that. It's disappointing because I think that Hong Kong event should be massive, and it's just a little bit half-hearted at the moment."

Elsewhere, Murphy agrees with Trump's thesis, also calling on the World Snooker Tour to better promote their events. The Magician said: "I'm very old-fashioned with promotion. I still believe in good old-fashioned advertising, and there was no evidence in Hong Kong that a snooker event was going on.

"We were only in Hong Kong 48 hours, but there was no evidence that anything was going on there. The amount of people who stopped me in the hotel where [fiancé] Jo and I were staying and asked for a picture or an autograph and then said, 'What are you doing here?' It was quite interesting.

"To be honest, I think that's something that runs throughout the tour. The amount of times we go to places and the public say, 'What are you doing here? It's great to see you. Is there an event on?'"

It comes as the WST has also released a statement on the World Grand Prix, arguing that the event provided "strong crowds" of more than 1,000 fans. A spokesperson from the Tour said: "Hong Kong has proved to be a tremendous destination for the World Grand Prix.

"We saw strong crowds this year with multiple sessions hosting attendances of over 1,000 fans, which would be a record for many UK events. We are proud to work with F-Sports and look forward to growing the event even more in the future.

"Ticket sales for the tour as a whole are on track for a 42 per cent increase over the last three years. The demand to watch live snooker and attend our events has never been higher."

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