World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn announces Haiku to stage 2012 World Open – Snooker News
World Snooker Chairman, Barry Hearn, has done a tremendous effort to promote the game of Snooker for the past two years and because of his efforts, the game is now recognised globally by the people of all ages. Due to his efforts, Snooker has received a
lot of appreciation in the world.
One of Hearn’s steps to promote the game was the expansion of the sport across the world. For this purpose, he started organising a number of major and minor snooker events in different continents. Brazil Open and Australian Goldfields Open were two of those
tournaments. Now, the snooker governing body has decided to organise the 2012 World Open in China.
The Chinese has always been in the forefront of Snooker’s promotion throughout the world and this time, by hosting the 2012 World Open, they hope they can contribute to the cause. On the other hand, World Snooker is also feeling immense pleasure announcing
the launch of the event in China.
Speaking to the media, Hearn said, “We are delighted to announce the staging of the World Open in Haikou for the next five years. The popularity of snooker in China continues to grow at a phenomenal rate and we have capitalised on that by establishing a
third full ranking event, alongside the China Open and Shanghai Masters.”
The snooker chief added, “We expect to make more announcements about events in China in the coming weeks. The players competing in the event are in for a wonderful time and it's fantastic to be taking snooker to a new part of China.”
The event will commence from February 27 to March 4. Top 16 snooker players will automatically be seeded in the tournament while the rest will have to qualify for the initial rounds. The 2012 World Open qualifying session will run from January 11-14 along
with eight wild cards entries.
The top players of snooker including John Higgins, Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Mark Selby will be looking forward to lock their places in the first round. The total prize money of the event is £400,000 including
£75,000 for the winner.
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