Hong Kong signs 5-year deal to keep world-class snooker event at Kai Tak Arena
World Grand Prix in March could attract a world-record crowd for a snooker ranking tournament – the city’s first such event in 35 years
Hong Kong’s hosting of snooker’s World Grand Prix in March is set to be the first of many after organisers confirmed on Tuesday they had signed a five-year deal to keep it in the city.
The forthcoming tournament from March 4 to 9 could also smash the attendance record for any ranking event globally when the world’s leading 32 players perform at the new Kai Tak Arena before up to 5,300 spectators. It will be Hong Kong’s first ranking event since 1989.
Speaking to the Post, Simon Brownell, chief executive of World Snooker Tour (WST), singled out the local appetite as a factor in turning Hong Kong into a regular ranking event host.
He cited the crowd of about 9,000 – a world record for a snooker match – who flocked to Hong Kong Coliseum for the final of the invitational Masters tournament, a non-ranking event, in 2022.
“To succeed as an event, we have to create an atmosphere where snooker is being played that elevates the game,” Brownell said in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
