Snooker Set To Conquer The Middle East
World Snooker has recently announced the first ever ranking event to be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Under the patronage of his Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Salaman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the World Snooker Bahrain Championship will be staged at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre in Manama from November 8-15. As usual, the top 16 players will automatically be entered into the competition and through to the final stages. They will be competing against 16 qualifiers and 16 wild cards. Peter Ebdon, who lives in Dubai said, ‘This is tremendous news for snooker. To have a brand new tournament is a great boost for the players, and particularly to have one in a new territory.’ ‘I have witnessed first hand, the popularity of snooker in the Middle East, the people love it here.’ Ebdon – the former world champion is confident that the new tournament will be hugely accepted. ‘It’s great news for fans in the region as they will get the chance to see their heroes in action, and I have no doubt that the tournament will be well supported.’ Sir Rodney Walker – Chairman of the WPBSA and World Snooker added that, ‘This is a major step in our strategy to make professional snooker a global sport. We are moving into a territory which we know has a huge following for snooker. This tournament will be a focal point for that interest as a catalyst for fuller growth across the Middle East.’ ‘We already have to fully-funded ranking tournaments in China and we have had considerable commercial success in the Far East in recent years. With this venture into Bahrain we intend to continue to exploit the potential of markets where snooker is popular, and to provide great entertainment to an ever-growing international fan base.’