Turkey to host World Snooker Tour Turkish Masters in 2022

By Hatice Ozdemir Tosun

ANTALYA, Turkey (AA) - The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) and the Turkish Billiards Federation held a signing ceremony Saturday at the Nirvana Hotel for the World Snooker Tour (WST) Nirvana Turkish Masters.

Turkey will host the event in Antalya for the first time.

Chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association Jason Ferguson said snooker’s popularity has continued to grow.

Expressing that they have been organizing tournaments at indoor sports hall because of coronavirus fears, Ferguson said: "Due to the epidemic, we have not been able to travel for the last two years. We will end this situation by organizing the tournament in Turkey."

Ferguson said that he has been in Antalya for two days and spent time in a very nice environment, noting that players and referees would not want to leave the city after they arrived.

Turkish Billiards Federation President Ersan Ercan said his group has been working to bring the tournament to Turkey for about 1.5 years.

He added that in approximately 2.5 months, Turkey will host one of the 20 largest organizations in the world.

"Our dreams are about to come true. We have become a big family with all our stakeholders."

The organization will be held at Nirvana Cosmopolitan Hotel Cosmos Performance Hall in Antalya on March 7 - 13.

* Writing by Muhammed Enes Calli in Ankara