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Its
format will be invitational and
the events will gather the
world's best players from the
top 20, occasional wild cards as
well as local players. John
Higgins, the 2007 World Champion
said: "After I won the
World Championship I was
determined to capitalise on this
by developing Professional
Snooker into regions where we
know it is popular.
We
spent the summer visiting
countries such as Russia, the
Middle and Far East and also ran
a pilot event in Warsaw, Poland.
I could not believe how popular
the game was in these regions
and have to say I was over the
moon to find myself being
recognised and signing
autographs on the streets of
Moscow." "This new
Series will complement the
Ranking Events run by World
Snooker, and hopefully will pave
the way for the expansion of
Professional Snooker
internationally.
The
support from the players and
management as well as the
enthusiasm and energy they have
shown in assisting the
development of the Series has
been fantastic" said Pat
Mooney, CEO of FSTC Sports
Management. "We will be
taking an attractive and stylish
festival of Snooker to each of
some of the most prestigious
locations in the world and will
be working exceptionally hard to
give our sponsors and commercial
partners the type of product and
hospitality they deserve from
such a high profile sport."
he adds. "Snooker has a
long tradition on Eurosport!
With 300 hours of coverage every
year, we are proud to have
contributed to the development
of its popularity throughout
Europe.
We
believe in the potential of this
high profile sport and we are
delighted to collaborate and
support this project with top
experts like John Higgins and
Pat Mooney" says Jacques
Béhar, President and CEO of
Eurosport Events. "The
launch of this new Series also
marks an important step for the
development of Eurosport Events
as it deepens our multisport
expertise and extends our
portfolio comprised today of
international events in
motorsports, equestrianism and
sailing.
"
Eurosport Events will be
responsible for the expansion of
this series. It will be the
licensing agent handling the
international distribution of
worldwide media rights
(including TV rights) and will
also manage the sale of the
marketing rights and
international communications.
The Snooker World Series will
receive extensive TV coverage
including live transmissions on
Eurosport, Europe's n°1 sports
TV channel reaching over 112
millions homes across 59
countries, completed by
extensive coverage on Eurosport
Asia, Eurosportnews and
eurosport.com.
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