RKG Pro Snooker Series 2015 - 4th Leg (Kolkata)

The 'City of Joy' Kolkata is now ready to showcase India's leading cueists who will be taking part in the fourth and last competitive leg of 'RKG 1st Open Pro-Snooker Series 2015' before proceeding to the Grand Finale at Mumbai. The Kolkata leg is starting from 23rd May till 5th June at the sporting hub of Kolkata ‘The Bengal Rowing Club’ The series attracts a total prize money of Rs.21 Lakh, out of which, Rs.3.5 Lakh will be given in Kolkata. The entire series is jointly organized by the Sport India, Cue Sports India and Yasin Merchant Snooker Academy.

The series spread in total five cities of the country and first three legs have already been accomplished in Delhi, Ahmedabad and Chennai on 28th March, 19th April and 10th May. The fourth and last competitive leg of this series is now being staged here at Bengal Rowing Club to finally announce the top 32 in the ranking who will contest in the Grand Finale at Mumbai.

The Kolkata leg is now showcasing 89 participants from across India those will contest 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.

Mr. Ravindra Kumar Gupta, Chairman & Managing Director of RKG Hospitalities Pvt. Ltd whose passion for cue sports is well-known, has sponsored this series. He is perhaps one of the few Indians who spends this kind of money religiously to spread awareness among people in snooker.

At Kolkata we will witness the competition among top brass of Indian players like Kamal Chawla (Top Seed), Alok Kumar, Manan Chandra, Faisal Khan, Varun Madan, Rafath Habib, Laxman Rawat, Shivam Arora, Lucky Vatnani, Ishpreet Chadha, Rahul Sachdev alongwith Kolkata’s stars Brijesh Damani, Shahbaaz Adil Khan, Sourav Kothari, Manish Jain, Shoaib Khan, Amir Hussain, Kingshuk Saha etc.

Kolkata based International Referee, Mr. Prakash Mehrotra is appointed as the Chief Referee for the Kolkata Championship and 3 official referees will assist him.

The format of the tournament is on knockout basis and players are placed according to their performance in first leg. The first five rounds are 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 taken 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 The Bengal Rowing Club to host the championship in Kolkata. The club team, billiards and office staff have been extremely helpful in making this event a grand 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.
 

Kolkata :: 21st May 2015