World Ranking Snooker tournament to be held in India

64 of the best cueists will compete in the World Ranking Snooker tournament to be held this year in New Delhi, India

According to a press release from the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India on Wednesday, India will be hosting the World Ranking Snooker tournament and the stipulated venue will be in the nation’s capital, New Delhi.

The tournament will be conducted over 5 days between October 14 and 18 this year and will see 64 of the top cueists from around the world including 6 from the host nation, battle it out for the prize money of a whopping 300,000 pounds.

The qualifier of the contest, where 128 teams will clash with each other to sneak into the next round, will be held in England and the top 64 competitors will fly to India where the rest of the tournament will be conducted. Sources have revealed that live coverage of the tournament will be carried out by a “leading news channel” from the round of 32 onwards.

“We are delighted to be a part of the efforts being made by BSFI to popularize cue sports in India,” said Jason Ferguson, chairman, World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.

“lndia has produced several top-ranking players in the past and has no dearth of talent and, therefore, a ranking event of this magnitude would only motivate the promising ones,” he added.

Speaking on the same lines BSFI president Captain PVK Mohan said: “We are excited to host an event of this scale on an annual basis to take the cue sports in India to a new phase. Although snooker is a niche sport, we are confident that an event of this nature would create large-scale awareness and take the game to greater heights in India.”

Source: IBN Live