Coral To Sponsor New Snooker Series

This season’s World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship will now be sponsored by leading betting operator Coral, with snooker’s top players also set to battle for the newly created Coral Cup.

These tournaments were previously sponsored by Ladbrokes but the Ladbrokes Coral Group has taken a strategic decision to change the three title sponsorships to the Coral brand.

The Coral World Grand Prix will run from February 4-10 at Cheltenham Racecourse, with the top 32 players from the one-year ranking list to earn a place.

The top 16 on the one-year list will go on to the Coral Players Championship at the Guild Hall in Preston from March 4-10.

And only the top eight will make it to the Coral Tour Championship at Venue Cymru in Llandudno from March 19 to 24.

The top prizes at the three Coral Series events will be £100,000, £125,000 and £150,000 respectively, and any player taking all three titles will have his total rounded up from £375,000 to £500,000.

The player earning the most overall prize money across the three events will receive the inaugural Coral Cup.

All three events will receive extensive television coverage from ITV4.

World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: “The race is on to qualify for the Coral World Grand Prix with only three counting events to go, the UK Championship, Scottish Open and German Masters, before the cut off point falls. Only the best 32 players of the season will make it to Cheltenham, and then the field becomes more and more elite for the events in Preston and Llandudno.

“Every pound counts over the coming weeks and it is a huge incentive for players to qualify for the Coral Series events because they have a high level of prestige and a fantastic level of prize money. Those who make it have the chance to push further ahead in the world rankings.

“We are thrilled to be working with the Coral team on what will be an outstanding trip of tournaments which will be watched by many millions of fans across the world.”

Simon Clare, Ladbrokes Coral PR Director said: “We are delighted to be partnering with World Snooker to launch such an exciting, new snooker series. Coral has a long history of sponsorship in snooker, but this decision to sponsor three such prestigious events and the inaugural Coral Cup is the biggest commitment we have ever made to the sport and one we are very proud to make. We can’t wait to get started.”

Tickets for all three Coral Series events are on sale now, for details CLICK HERE

Currently among the top 32 of the one-year list are the likes of Mark Allen, Mark Selby, Judd Trump, Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson and John Higgins.