Judd Trump says snooker stars owe it to their fans, new and old, not to leave all the entertainment to Ronnie O’Sullivan. With the UK Championship – one of the sport’s traditional major tournaments – getting underway this weekend, the sport has established itself in Saudi Arabia this year with two cash-rich events.

The season’s World Masters in Riyadh in the spring was followed by the Saudi Arabia Masters, a ranking event, which saw Trump walk away with the £500,000 top prize after a dramatic victory over Mark Williams. While the event was widely considered a success, the low attendance, especially at the start of the tournament, did not go unnoticed.

And most of the fans in attendance were there for O’Sullivan, Trump admits. The Bristol snooker player says it shouldn’t be up to one man to promote the sport to new audiences and says other players, including himself, could help by playing a brand of snooker more exciting.

“At first the crowd was not what we wanted, but when you go to a new country or even when you come back to the first edition of a snooker tournament here, there was no crowd because no one didn’t know what was going on,” Trump said in an exclusive interview with Reach’s UK Championship magazine.

“It is very narrow-minded to expect a thousand people to be sold to a new country. I saw at the previous tournament in Saudi Arabia that people started flocking at the end of the tournament.

“I think part of the blame (for the low attendance) must be on the players. They’re not exciting enough, including me. You have to get started.

“Everyone turned out for Ronnie. The crowds are there, but it’s up to the players to play more offensive, fluid and exciting snooker. It’s up to us to make sport more enjoyable.

Asked if he entertains, he replies: “I try to.” I’m probably not as exciting as I used to be because I want to win all the money!

“I try to find the right balance but it’s difficult. Some players may find it harder than me and don’t promote themselves to the fans as much as they could.

Next up is one of the sport’s traditional major tournaments, the UK Championship in York, which begins today (Saturday) with defending champion O’Sullivan facing Barry Hawkins in the first round at 1pm. Trump begins his campaign against Neil Robertson on Tuesday.

So, do events like the UK Championship and the Masters still matter as much after Saudi Arabia and its riches arrived on the scene?

“They’re still special,” Trump insisted. “You’ll never take away the gravity of these tournaments. But when you play for that kind of money (in Saudi Arabia) and you come back and the top prize isn’t as big, it won’t feel as big.

“In the next three to five years, the Saudi Masters will be the second or third biggest event. It’s not just about the prize money, but also the atmosphere of the tournament as a whole. If the crowd was full, it would undoubtedly be the second largest (after the World Championship).