World Snooker stages first ever ranking event of Australian Goldfields Open at Bendigo Stadium
World Snooker has reached Australia to stage the first-ever major ranking event on the Australian soil with the name of Australian Goldfields Open at the Bendigo Stadium in Victoria.
The event will be a part of the 2011-12 World Snooker Tour and will run from July 18 to 24 with the qualifiers from June 27 to 30 at the World Snooker Academy in Sheffield, England.
Professional snooker will have another permanent home in Australia as the Australian Goldfields Open will be held at the Bendigo Stadium for the next three years. The world snooker dream of expanding the game and its viewership around the globe is finally
coming true as the Victorian government announced the event’s schedule.
Louise Asher, Minister of Tourism and Major Events stated, “The Australian Goldfields Open will be played in Bendigo from 18-24 July 2011 providing an outstanding opportunity to see top sporting action in regional Victoria. The Australian Goldfields Open
is the latest addition to Victoria's award winning major events calendar of exciting, world-class events that is sure to thrill and entertain Victorians and visitors alike.”
The event will bring the excitement and thrill to the Bendigo Stadium when the top snooker stars will gather in the arena. The World Snooker Chairman, Barry Hearn, is quite happy to have a World Snooker major ranking tournament held in Australia.
He expressed his feelings, “We're absolutely thrilled to be going to Australia for a world ranking event for the first time. Snooker is going global like never before as we also have new events in Thailand and Brazil within the next few months, plus many
more in the pipeline.”
The Australian soil has produced world class players in all sports of the world especially snooker. The Australian potter Neil Robertson became the first Aussie to win the World Snooker Championship in 2010. However, Robertson failed to retain his title
in the 2011 World Championship as he crashed out of the mega event at the hands of the youngster Judd Trump who made to the finals.
Australian Goldfields Open has the same prize fund as the Welsh Open at £263,537. The prize money for the highest break has been set at £1,500.
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