中华时报英国讯（记者赵雪湄）2020年最后一天，2021新年来临之际，世界斯诺克巡回赛总裁巴里·赫恩（Barry Hearn）因在体育方面的贡献而获得了新年荣誉勋章（OBE）。
该奖项是对赫恩主席在40多年来在体育推广方面取得的成就的认可。
赫恩与史蒂夫戴维斯2018年同登“斯诺克名人堂”
2018年同一天入选名人堂的还有中国选手丁俊晖
赵雪湄当时在现场采访。
球员与赫恩
记者们采访巴里赫恩
巴里赫恩曾为英国河北微电台“成语TalkShow”节目录制成语故事。赫恩先生也因此成为这款原创成语节目制作三十期以来首个获得OBE勋章的嘉宾。
巴里赫恩接受赵雪湄采访
Barry Hearn, Chairman of the World Snooker Tour, has been awarded an OBE in the New Year’s Honours for his services to sport.The award comes as recognition of Hearn’s achievements in sports promotion over more than 40 years.
The 72-year-old Londoner has been involved in snooker since the 1970s, initially as manager of Steve Davis who went on to dominate the sport throughout the 1980s. Hearn formed the Matchroom stable of players, which also included stars Jimmy White, Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, Cliff Thorburn, Neal Foulds, Tony Meo and Terry Griffiths.
In 2010, Hearn was elected Chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association – the sport’s governing body – and subsequently of its commercial arm the World Snooker Tour.
At the time, snooker was at its lowest ebb for 40 years, with just six ranking events on the calendar and total prize money of £3.5 million.
Over the decade that followed, Hearn led a global revolution of the sport. The number of tournaments grew to over 25, with total prize money increasing to £15 million. Events have been staged in over 20 countries worldwide, while snooker’s global television audience has grown to a massive 500 million fans. The professional tour now has 128 players from 21 different countries and regions.