John virgo's views on the snooker world championships

He said: “It’s one of the most open tournaments for a while. Ronnie starts as favourite again but it really depends if he’s in the right frame of mind.

“The bottom half of the draw is very interesting, with Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby and Stephen Maguire all in with a shout. They’ve all done well this season and they’d be a match for anyone, including Ronnie.”

This year sees the debut of 17-year-old Chinese player Liu Chuang and it could see the end of one of the all-time greats, Steve Davis.

“There’s a couple of Chinese lads in there this year, which should be interesting,” said Virgo.

“There are a lot of very good young players coming through and they will make it difficult for the older players like Stephen Hendry and Peter Ebdon.

“And Steve Davis only just scraped in. If he loses his first round game against Stuart Bingham, he’ll have to qualify next year and I wonder if he’ll have the motivation to do that. This could be his swansong in Sheffield.”

Should this be The Nugget’s last appearance, Virgo thinks he has left an indelible mark on the game he dominated in the 1980s.

He said: “People watched Steve back then and realised they had to really dedicate themselves to the game to get consistent results. Young people want to win and you can’t blame them.

“At the time, people thought Steve would never be beaten and they seriously talked about introducing a handicap to give other players a chance. He’s been a tremendous player and a great ambassador for the sport.”

With Jimmy White absent, some people feel there is a distinct lack of characters – O’Sullivan excepted – involved.

“That’s probably true of most modern sports,” said Virgo. “It’s a serious business now. In the early days there weren’t many tournaments and we made our bread and butter from exhibition games.

“Now players have to win tournaments to pay the mortgage and I think some of the enjoyment’s gone out of it.

"Ronnie is one of the best to play the game but he won't go on for ever. The talent does go and the sport doesn't wait for anyone, so it's important he makes the most of his talent now."

So how does Virgo think the game has changed?

He said: "When I started out the game we were still trying to sell the game. The main ingredients were the introduction of colour tv, the old tv series 'Pot Black', and a bit of magic.

"That magic was brought by players like Alex Higgins, who was the best I ever played against. A tremendous player but he did things a lot of people frowned on. But he stimulated public interest in the game.

"Now it's more of a business and a lot of the tournaments are contrived just for tv coverage. It's also got very 'techniquey' because the players practice so much to win the big prize money on offer. Maybe some of the flair has gone out of it."

Virgo, UK champion in 1979, never won the world title, but the 62-year-old admitted he doesn’t miss playing.

He said. “I get a real tingle when I drive into Sheffield and I see that sign saying ‘World Championship Snooker, The Crucible’.

"It's a great venue, even though it only has 950 seats, and I think that atmosphere comes across on the television.

“I’d have loved to have been world champion. I had a couple of near misses, with a semi-final appearance being my best, but I’m glad I’m not playing now.

“I pass the players on the way in and they are always racked with nerves and wishing they were somewhere else.”

simon.hayes@wharf.co.uk