19.com To Sponsor Trio Of Snooker’s Home Nations Events
World Snooker is delighted to announce 19.com as the new title sponsor of this season’s English Open, Northern Ireland Open and Scottish Open.
These three events make up the Home Nations series, alongside the Welsh Open. During the 2020-21 season, all four of these tournaments will be sponsored by 19.com.
The Home Nations series was introduced in 2016, with one world ranking tournament staged in each country in the UK. Any player winning all four events in a single season earns a bonus of £1 million.
The upcoming events in 2019 are:
19.com English Open, Crawley, October 14-20
19.com Northern Ireland Open, Belfast, November 11-17
19.com Scottish Open, Glasgow, December 9-15
Prize money for each of these events has been increased from £366,000 to £405,000. Each tournament features 128 players in a flat draw, all needing to win seven matches to take the title.
All four events are televised live by host broadcaster Eurosport, Quest, and many other broadcasters around the world.
Stuart Bingham won the English Open in Crawley last season
World Snooker Chairman Barry Hearn said: “We are thrilled to be working with 19.com for the first time. This is their first venture into the snooker market and I have no doubt they will find that we can deliver top class sporting events.
“Our global reach is growing every year with half a billion viewers around the globe in over 120 countries. On the table, the level of drama and standard of play has never been better. Snooker is a fantastic product and 19.com have recognised that. From next season they will sponsor all four Home Nations events and we look forward to building a strong relationship with their team.
“Over the last three years the Home Nations series has proved a superb addition to our tour. Each of the events create stories, with up-and-coming players given their chance to compete against the top stars in the televised stages. And the chance to win an unprecedented bonus of £1 million is an extra incentive.”
19.com spokesperson Jamie Dillon said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working with World Snooker and we are confident that 19.com will be a great addition to the Home Nations series. We are looking forward to bring the best to all snooker followers.”
Tickets for the Home Nations events will be available soon, details will be announced on worldsnooker.com
English Open champions
2016: Liang Wenbo
2017: Ronnie O’Sullivan
2018: Stuart Bingham
Northern Ireland Open champions
2016: Mark King
2017: Mark Williams
2018: Judd Trump
Scottish Open champions
2016: Marco Fu
2017: Neil Robertson
2018: Mark Allen