Snooker is still a very small sport in Sweden. The number of snooker tables available to the public in the entire country, 55, probably says it all.

Until about five years ago, many Swedes didn’t even know what snooker was. It wasn’t until 2002 that something finally started happening. Eurosport has been part of the base selection of many television cable companies in Sweden ever since cable tv was introduced to the country. So when they started showing snooker in the beginning of the 2000s, it was only natural that people came across matches when randomly zapping between channels.

But the thing that originally caught their attention might not have been the game itself as much as the commentator. This man truly stood out with his drawling voice, slightly sarcastic comments and hilarious understatements. People would stay on Eurosport for a while just to listen to him talk. Paying attention to the match at the same time they soon realised what a fascinating and intriguing game snooker really is.

The commentator’s name is Kim Hartman and he might very well be one of the biggest reasons why the sport is finally getting attention in Sweden. He has a background as a referee in the World Amateur Snooker Championship as well as in one of the biggest snooker clubs in Stockholm where he has been a driving force for many years. He was also responsible for importing the first snooker table to Sweden and held receptions in Stockholm for guests like Stephen Hendry in the 80′s. In 2004 he won Eurosport’s commentator of the year award.

Despite the low number of tables, a few Swedish tournaments are being held throughout the year. The most important tournament is the Swedish Championship that usually takes place after the professional World Championship. Other tournaments are the Swedish Championship for ladies, the Swedish Championship for youths, the Swedish Championship for seniors and a few smaller ranking tournaments.

Sweden has a few good players, none of which are professional, and quite a few very talented youths. Some of the most well-known players today are Kevin Zarakani, Farhan Mirza, Nils Böhling and Ann-Sofie Löfgren. It’s quite remarkable that the highest ranked female player is 32nd in the rankings. In 2009 Swedish player Suleman K Salam won the Junior International Snooker Open in Ireland.

Apparently, Sweden is loaded with snooker talent, so what could be done to increase the popularity of the sport and get more people to play? First of all, Eurosport is no longer in the tv cable basic selection due to price negotiation problems. The Eurosport web tv service costs money and is still experiencing some problems with freezing and delays.

This might slowly cause the interest in snooker to decrease among Swedes. Another problem might be the amount of tables in Sweden. If snooker tables in addition to pool tables became a natural part of the Swedish pub life, more people would be exposed to the sport. Of course, international success such as that of Salam in 2009 helps tremendously.

But anyone interested in snooker is responsible for helping the sport gain popularity. We can’t just sit around and wait for a single enthusiast like Kim Hartman to do all the work.