Inaugural Indian Open confirmed for October

India will host it's first professional World Snooker ranking event later this season, the Indian Open. Held in the capital city of Delhi on the 14-18th of October, it will see the game's top stars compete for a total prize fund of £300,000.

Today the Billiard and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) signed a three-year contract to stage the Indian Open ranking event in Dehli on October 14-18th, which will give many fans of the sport in the densely populated country a chance to see snooker's top stars up close.

Read the full announcement here.

This will also give great chance for Indian snooker professional's Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta to increase their profiles in the country. Let's hope for both their sakes and their supporters that their qualifying matches in England will be held over to the venue.

The Indian Open will see a standard 128-man draw with the winners of each match qualifying for the final stages at the venue. However a new event in a new country means wildcards, six of them. Let's hope that this number is reduced swiftly next year as their presence always seems to slightly taint an event for me.

What will be the main test's for this event to prove to be successful? As with most things it comes down to money and that will be the viewing figures it draws in, especially those from the Asian countries.

Personally I would like to see ITV4 or another traditional broadcaster pick up the rights here in the UK, but EuroSport would no doubt provide a decent amount of coverage for the event as the time differences aren't as vast as events in China & Australia. 

As the tournament is being staged in India's capital city, it has all the chances it needs to get a decent amount of spectators in to watch all the matches, not just for the big stars and the Indian players. So let's all hope that ticket prices are set at a resasonable rate and that VIP seating doesn't dominate the lower tiers of the arena.