RKG Pro Snooker Series 2015 - 3rd Leg (Chennai)

India's leading cueists are assembling in the capital city of Tamil Nadu, Chennai from 2nd May to 10th May 2015 to take part in the third 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.

The series is spread in five cities and first and second legs have already been accomplished. The Delhi championship was ended on 28th March where 12 time world champion, Pankaj Advani was the winner and Ahmedabad championship finished on 19th April where Lucky Vatnani of Telangana won the title of West Zone. The third leg of this series is being held here at the Cosmopolitan Club, Chennai before moving ahead to the last leg of series at Kolkata and Grand Finale at Mumbai.

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

Here at Chennai, total 83 participants across India are contesting for winner's prize of Rs.100000 and also the prestigious RKG Pro Snooker Series 2015 South Zone trophy . Players of all ages are competing in the tournament.

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.

At Chennai we will witness the competition amongst top brass of Indian players like World Games Gold Medalist Aditya Mehta, Kamal Chawla (Top Seed), Alok Kumar, Manan Chandra, Brijesh Damani, Dharmender Lilly, Lucky Vatnani, Faisal Khan Varun Madan alongwith Tamil Nadu stars Rafath Habib, S.A. Saleem, Vijay Nichani, J.Varun Kumar, Shrikrishna etc.

Class I Referee, Mr. R.B. Ganesh has been appointed as the Chief Referee for the Chennai Championship and he will be assisted by 4 official referees.

The tournament will be played on a knockout basis and the players are placed according to their performance in first and second leg. The first four 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 Cosmopolitan Club to host this 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.
 

Chennai :: 2nd May 2015