Does the arrival of 'The Cyclone' represent the final wind of change for snooker?

The sport has been in steady decline since the 1980s, with even champion Ronnie O'Sullivan declaring it 'boring'. But Chinese interest in snooker could be the cue to its survival as Zhao Xintong becomes China's first World Champion

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of the 19th century, snooker took its name from a derogatory term used by the likes of Chamberlain to describe inexperienced recruits.

For years, it remained a game played mostly by military officers and the gentry and many gentlemen’s clubs would refuse entry to non-members keen to use their snooker tables.

In response, working men’s clubs, providing social activities, education and recreation for working class men and their families, particularly in the North of England, Midlands and South Wales, provided their own snooker tables and the popularity of the sport among ordinary Britons grew steadily.

Indeed the winner of the first Professional Championship of Snooker in 1926 — and all of the subsequent 14 annual tournaments — was the son of miner-turned-publican from Derbyshire.

Joe Davis, who hit his first century break aged 12 and turned professional aged 18, dominated the sport until his retirement in 1946 and is the only undefeated player in World Snooker Championship history.

But snooker’s popularity declined after the Second World War and the 1952 World Snooker Championship was contested by only two players. It was arguably the advent of the BBC’s colour television service in 1967 which rescued the sport.

Sir David Attenborough, then the controller of BBC2, commissioned the Pot Black TV snooker tournament — with its green baize and different ball shades — to showcase the advantages of colour TV. For a time, Pot Black was the second most popular show on BBC2 after Morecambe and Wise.