It was one of the most memorable World Snooker Championships in recent memory, but that had nothing to do with Neil Robertson's maiden title or the latest finish in final history.

As the final of the most prestigious tournament in the game's calendar unfolded, the spectators at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in the north of England were left to mull over a more serious concern: Has snooker gone to pot?

Events away from the green baize have conspired to cast a dark cloud over the final of snooker's World Championship. On the opening day of the final, John Higgins, the world's No. 1 player, was suspended after a U.K. newspaper published allegations, backed up by an undercover reporter's video, that Mr. Higgins and his manager agreeing to influence match results for money.

Both Mr. Higgins and Mr. Mooney deny the allegations, which were published in the News of the World on Sunday. The newspaper claims that the video, released on its website, shows the world's best player and his manager, Pat Mooney, apparently agreeing to take 300,000 in return for agreeing to lose certain frames in matches to be played later this year.

'I have never deliberately missed a shot, never mind intentionally lost a frame or a match,' Mr. Higgins said in a statement. 'My conscience is 100% clear.' Mr. Mooney couldn't be reached for comment.

The world's leading professionalplayers on Wednesday will meet the sport's highest-ranking official, Barry Hearn, chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, to discuss the future of the game.

The meeting was originally scheduled to allow the sport's top stars to vote on Mr. Hearn's proposals to revive interest in a sport that is currently at its lowest point commercially since becoming mainstream television entertainment more than 30 years ago.

One of Mr. Hearn's more offbeat ideas was to introduce a one-frame shootout in which the Grim Reaper would escort losing players out of the arena, but today's discussion will now focus on another shadowy specter.

'As a player, it's the darkest day I've ever experienced,' says Steve Davis, a six-time world champion and the sport's greatest ambassador. 'The integrity of the game has been put in question. It's at the lowest ebb it's ever been.'

The News of the World, which is owned by News Corp., owner of The Wall Street Journal, didn't suggest that Mr. Higgins or Mr. Mooney had fixed the result of any frame or match to date-just that the video appears to show an agreement for a future match.

Mr. Hearn has acknowledged that the scandal is 'a body blow' to his plans to revitalize a sport that is suffering from decreased sponsorship revenue, lower prize money and falling audiences.

'This matter has brought the very fabric of the game into question, ' said Mr. Hearn, who has launched an inquiry under the direction of former Metropolitan Police detective chief superintendent David Douglas. 'I can't ignore... the damage potentially it could do to the game.'

The blow is all the more damaging because this had been such a good fortnight for a sport which is attempting to woo back commercial partners. Since the ban on tobaccoadvertising in Britain deprived snooker of a valuable source of funding, ranking tournaments have had a succession of short-term sponsors and the professionalcircuit has been cut from eight world-ranking events last season to just six this year-the fewest since 1983. Prize money has also fallen by £435,000 this year to a little over £3 million.

Jonathan Clegg

• maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)
• opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)
• player [´pleiə] n.游戏的人；选手 (初中英语单词)
• manager [´mænidʒə] n.经理；管理人；干事 (初中英语单词)
• conscience [´kɔnʃəns] n.良心；道德心 (初中英语单词)
• professional [prə´feʃənəl] a.职业的 n.自由职业 (初中英语单词)
• wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
• entertainment [,entə´teinmənt] n.招(款)待；联欢会 (初中英语单词)
• discussion [di´skʌʃən] n.讨论；辩论 (初中英语单词)
• champion [´tʃæmpiən] n.冠军 vt.拥护 (初中英语单词)
• ambassador [æm´bæsədə] n.大使 (初中英语单词)
• journal [´dʒə:nəl] n.日记；日报；杂志 (初中英语单词)
• agreement [ə´gri:mənt] n.同意；一致；协议 (初中英语单词)
• suffering [´sʌfəriŋ] n.痛苦；灾害 (初中英语单词)
• fabric [´fæbrik] n.织物；结构；组织 (初中英语单词)
• inquiry [in´kwaiəri] n.询问；质询；调查 (初中英语单词)
• detective [di´tektiv] n.侦探 a.侦探的 (初中英语单词)
• commercial [kə´mə:ʃəl] a.商业的 n.广告节目 (初中英语单词)
• tobacco [tə´bækəu] n.烟草(叶)；卷烟 (初中英语单词)
• advertising [´ædvətaiziŋ] n.广告a.广告的 (初中英语单词)
• valuable [´væljuəbəl, -jubəl] a.有价值的，贵重的 (初中英语单词)
• succession [sək´seʃən] n.继任；继承(权) (初中英语单词)
• circuit [´sə:kit] n.环行 v.(绕....)环行 (初中英语单词)
• memorable [´memərəbəl] a.难忘的；重大的 (高中英语单词)
• tournament [´tuənəmənt] n.比赛，锦标赛 (高中英语单词)
• calendar [´kælində] n.日历；月历；历法 (高中英语单词)
• apparently [ə´pærəntli] ad.显然，表面上地 (高中英语单词)
• deliberately [di´libərətli] ad.故意地；慎重地 (高中英语单词)
• originally [ə´ridʒənəli] ad.本来；独创地 (高中英语单词)
• revive [ri´vaiv] v.(使)苏醒；(使)振奋 (高中英语单词)
• reaper [´ri:pə] n.收割者；收割机 (高中英语单词)
• escort [´eskɔ:t] n.伴随者；警卫(队) (高中英语单词)
• shadowy [´ʃædəui] a.有阴影的；模糊的 (高中英语单词)
• scandal [´skændl] n.丑闻；耻辱；流言蜚语 (高中英语单词)
• revenue [´revinju:] n.税收；收入 (高中英语单词)
• superintendent [,su:pərin´tendənt, ,sju:-] n.管理人，负责人 (高中英语单词)
• fortnight [´fɔ:tnait] n.两星期 (高中英语单词)
• championship [´tʃæmpiənʃip] n.拥护；奋斗；锦标赛 (英语四级单词)
• integrity [in´tegriti] n.完整；完善；正直 (英语四级单词)
• metropolitan [,metrə´pɔlitən] a.大城市的 n.大城市人 (英语四级单词)