Barry Hearn happy with increase in entries for Players Tour Championship 2011 - Snooker Update
World Snooker chairman, Barry Hearn is feeling quite excited as this season’s Players Tour Championship (PTC) events have seen more than 25 percent increase in the entries for the tournament. Last year, a total of 150 snooker players registered for the PTC
Event 1, but this time the numbers have gone to 206 with 93 professional players and 113 amateurs.
The second event of the Players Tour Championship has got 212 entries with 96 pro players and 116 amateurs. In the same way, PTC Event 3 has attracted 214 players from all around the world with 96 professionals and 118 amateurs. Event 4 will commence with
the most, 244 entrants comprising of 95 pros and 149 amateurs.
While speaking to the local media, Barry Hearn said, “I'm delighted with the numbers. Last season finished with a real flourish, we had fantastic viewing figures for the Betfred.com World Championship and the mood of the nation is clearly that snooker is
on the up. It's great to see that reflected in an increased number of amateur players taking part in our events.”
In reply to a question about the entries he said, “Nearly all of the professional players have entered the first four PTCs which is a good sign. I want everyone to pull in the same direction and help snooker achieve its potential. And the amateurs now have
a chance to qualify for the pro tour directly through the PTC series.”
About the broadcasting of all the PTC events, Hearn revealed that they had some significant announcements to make about broadcasting and he believed that the PTC series would grow positively in the future.
He also added that he was already working on the program to make the game more popular in the world and increase its viewership. He is also looking forward to the same increase in the entries of the upcoming major events.
The first PTC event will run from Monday, June 20 to Wednesday, June 22 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, while Event 2 will commence from August 8 to 10 at the South West Snooker Academy in Gloucester.
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