Encouraged by the growth of the Indian Open, World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) chairman Jason Ferguson said the world ranking event is here to stay.
“At this moment we are in talks about extending the contract for another two years,” Ferguson said. The three-event deal between Billiards & Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) and World Snooker comes to end at the conclusion of this meet.
“There are some very interesting meetings being held this week and, hopefully, we have some good news for you. Our view is that we want to keep investing in India, keep investing in the event and keep growing the event. I think snooker will take off here in a big way if we keep pushing.
“It’s very similar to the Chinese investments we’ve made over the years. We had only one event in China for a long time but we kept pushing and pushing and now we have created some local stars. What we need is local stars, we need to get more players taking up the sport. We believe we can create a strong market here.”
Ferguson, while stressing the first priority would be to strengthen the Indian Open, said he hoped to have at least three events in a season in India.
BSFI president PVK Mohan said he was looking forward to making the country a major snooker hub. “We’re exploring options of having two more events apart from Indian Open. It’s a big challenge but we are confident.”
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