RKG Pro Snooker Series 2015 - 2nd Leg

L-R: Ayan Shah (Chairman, Sports Club Billiards Committee; Mahesh Desai (Hon' Secretary, Sports Club); Rupesh Shah, Former World Billiards Champion, Kamal Sheth (President Sports Club); Vivek Pathak (Chairman, Cue Sports India); Sonic Multani (Former National Champion); Padma Poddar (Director, Sport India); Yashbir Sharma.
 

India's leading cueists are assembling in the city of Vibrant Gujarat, Ahmedabad from 10th April to 19th April 2015 to take part in in the second leg of 'RKG 1st Open Pro-Snooker Series 2015'. The series attracts a total prize money of Rs.21 Lakh, which will be jointly organised by the Sport India, Cue Sports India and Yasin Merchant Snooker Academy under the auspices of Billiards and Snooker Federaion of India.

The series is spread in five cities and first leg has already been accomplished in Delhi on 28th March. The second leg of this series is being held at the Sports Club of Gujarat, Ahmedabad before moving ahead to Chennai and Kolkata.

The players will strive to accumulate points to gain top 32 position in these championships, which is the eligibility criteria to play in the Grand Finale at Mumbai.

It is a moment of pride to inform that for Ahmedabad Championship, record 124 participants across India are contesting for winner's prize of Rs.100000 and also the prestigious RKG Pro Snooker Series 2015 trophy. Players of all ages are competing in the tournament, the youngest one being 15yr old Aditya Sagar from Ahmedabad.

This series is sponsored by Mr. Ravindra Kumar Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director of RKG Hospitalities Pvt. Ltd whose passion for cue sports is well known. He is perhaps one of the few Indians who spends this kind of money religiously to spread awareness amongst people in snooker. The game would benefit with more philanthropists and altruists like him.

At Ahmedabad we will witness the competition amongst top brass of Indian players like Kamal Chawla (Top Seed), Alok Kumar, Manan Chandra, Brijesh Damani, Dharmender Lilly, Faisal Khan Varun Madan, Laxman Rawat, Ishpreet Chadha, Rahul alongwith Ahmedabad's stars Rupesh Shah, Sonic Multani, Dhvaj Haria, Johnson Narsidani, Bhadresh Panchal etc..

Class I Referee, Mr. Ajay Rastogi has been appointed as the Chief Referee for the Ahmedabad Championship and he will be assisted by 4 official referees.

The tournament will be played on a knockout basis and the players will be placed according to their performance in first leg. The first five rounds will be played best-of-5 frames, Last 32 and Last 16 as best-of-7 frames, Quarter and Semis best-of-9 frames and Final will be best-of-11 frames.

It is one of a kind attempt to bring to light cue sports on the National Front, popularizing the sport and encouraging budding talent. The multi-leg tournament has been taking place across the country in several cities successfully. We hope this only be a glimpse into what this tournament could grow up into over the next couple of years, with the support and encouragement of sponsors, the press, the constant hard work of our team and of course the enthusiastic participation of the players.

We appreciate the kind gesture shown by Sports Club of Gujarat Ltd. to host the championship. The club team, billiards and office staff have been extremely helpful in making the event a success.

Total Prize Money: Rs.21 Lakh

Prize money break-up:
a. Prize money at each of four Championship:
i. Winner: Rs.100000 x 1 = Rs.100000
ii. Runner: Rs.70000 x 1 = Rs.70000
iii. Semi Finalist: Rs.30000 x 2 = Rs.60000
iv. Quarter Finalist: Rs.15000 x 4 = Rs.60000
v. Pre-Quarter Finalist: Rs.7500 x 8 = Rs.60000
TOTAL= Rs.350000 x 4 = RS.1400000

b. Prize money for Grand Finale:
i. Winner: Rs.250000 x 1 = Rs.250000
ii. Runner: Rs.130000 x 1 = Rs.130000
iii. Semi Finalist: Rs.50000 x 2 = Rs.100000
iv. Quarter Finalist: Rs.25000 x 4 = Rs.100000
v. Last-16 Finalist: Rs.15000 x 8 = Rs.120000
TOTAL= Rs.700000 x 1 = Rs.700000

The media has been very helpful cue-sports especially in this championship. We need their constant support to promote this game nation-wide.
 

Ahmedabad :: 10 April 2015