Best players of world snooker for Indian Open

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New Delhi: Legendary cueists John Higgins, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Steve Davis could be among a host of star players who would feature in the 300,000 pound Indian Open World Ranking Snooker tournament to be held here in October.The capital will play host to the biggest snooker tournament in the country from October 14 to 18, giving fans a chance to see the best players of world snooker in action.The five-day world ranking event, being held in India for the first time, will see top 64 cueists from across the globe battling for a whopping winner's prize purse of 50,000 pound at Le Meridian Hotel.The Qualifier for this event, with 128 cueists, will be played at England and top 64 players from that tournament will fly down to India for the prestigious meet, it was announced today by the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) at a press meet here.Eight-time world champion Pankaj Advani and 2012 Asian Snooker Champion Aditya Mehta will spearhead the Indian challenge in the tournament. In addition, India will field six wild card entries to make it a 70-player event to be played on four tables.The event carries valuable ranking points, a top prize money and are open to all professional players, enough for stars like O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Higgins, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson to make a dash in India."It's great for Indian cuesports because events like these will inspire other cueists in the country to reach for the stars like achieved by Pankaj and Aditya. It will be a top-class event as the world's top cueists will be seen in action. Players like Davis, Ronnie, Higgins...these are the gladiators of the world snooker," said seven-time World Champion Geet Sethi."We are delighted to be a part of efforts made by BSFI to popularise cuesports in the country which has produced several top ranking players and has no dearth of talent. So a ranking event of this magnitude would motivate the promising ones," said Jason Ferguson, chairman of World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.On the occasion, BSFI signed a three-year agreement with the World Snooker body to host the championship in India.BSFI president, Capt P V K Mohan informed the gathering that snooker started from India some 200 years back and it's befitting that it makes a comeback to the country."World Snooker is happening for the first time in India. In the last few years itself, the BSFI has organised two World Snooker Championships, three Asian Billiards and Asian U-21 Snooker Championships, two World Billiards Championships. We are excited to host an event of this scale on annual basis to take the cuesports in India to a new phase," said Capt Mohan.Sethi reckoned that Pankaj and Aditya have been able to re-define Indian snooker with their stupendous show on the professional circuit."Pankaj and Aditya are the path-breakers, they have redefined the Indian snooker. They act as an inspiration to young players. This tournament will reinforce Pankaj and Aditya's belief system to play in front of the home crowd and take the game to a new level. The event will hugely inspire the young crop of cueists in the country," he said.Ferguson said, "It's great to have a ranking event in India after the UK, China, Germany, Australia among other countries. I am confident that top-64 players will definitely come and play. The winner of the UK qualifier will travel to India to play in the ranking event.Sethi added that Indian sport is going through "troubled times" with the suspension of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the BSFI has showed the way how NSFs should be run in India."We are living in troubled times as far as Indian sport is concerned. BSFI remains a beacon of hope like how NSFs should run in India. How they should work for the game and athletes. BSFI has showed the way by announcing a major ranking event," said Sethi.