Snooker’s new Irish Open will take place at Titanic Belfast later this year, and tickets are now on sale.
The world ranking event is part of the new Home Nations quartet of tournaments, alongside the English Open, Scottish Open and Welsh Open. Any player who wins all four events will receive a massive £1 million bonus.
The Irish Open will run from November 14 to 20 and will feature 128 of the world’s leading green baize stars, in a flat draw with all players starting in the first round. It will be the first professional snooker event in Northern Ireland since 2008.
Total prize money for each of the Home Nations events will be £366,000, with the winner to receive £70,000. All four tournaments will be televised by Eurosport.
Belfast’s top player Joe Swail said: “It’s brilliant. Everybody has been asking about having a tournament in Northern Ireland and now we’ve got one for the first time in eight years. In that time every exhibition I’ve done in Belfast has been full. There’s definitely an appetite for a ranking event. Belfast is a brilliant place and I think the event will be a great success.”
The two-time World Championship semi-finalist added: “I feel as if snooker is coming home with these new big events in the UK. I know the game is growing massively in China and it’s nice to travel. But for snooker in the UK to keep improving, it’s important that we develop the game at grassroots and it helps the profile of the game having tournaments like this.”
Tickets are ON SALE NOW and fans are STRONGLY URGED to book quickly because demand will be high and certain session are expected to sell out quickly.
And there’s a SPECIAL OFFER available as for a limited time only, All Day tickets for Monday 14th- Wednesday 16th November will be just £15. A limited number of tickets will be available at this special price. Terms and conditions apply.
For details www.worldsnooker.com/tickets
Home Nations events
English Open – Event City, Manchester, October 10-16
Irish Open – Titanic Belfast, November 14-20
Scottish Open – Emirates Arena, December 12-18
Welsh Open – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, February 13-19
Date: Friday July 15, 2016
Contact: Ivan Hirschowitz, World Snooker media office, 07766 656133