By Elliott West
Introduction
“It’s brilliant news for the Scottish players as we have really missed the chance to play in our home tournament over the last couple of years. I think there’s a lot of support for snooker and a lot of people playing the game in Edinburgh. I would love to win it in front of my own fans.”
John Higgins
The Scottish Open has in recent years had no fixed abode with the pandemic confining the tournament to the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes and then last year, wrangling over sponsorship rights prevented it from being held at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow and it was moved to Llandudno in North Wales. However, this uncertainty has finally been put to bed with the announcement that this year’s event will be held at the end of November at the Meadowbank Sports Centre, a venue that has been closed since 2017 and will open next month after a 47m rebuild, making it the first professional snooker event to be held in the city since 2003.
Normal Service is Resumed
Last year’s tournament was won by Luca Brecel, denying John Higgins the title with a 9-5 victory in the final. This year 70 players will take part with all the top 16 participating including Ronnie O’Sullivan. Ronnie of course won the World Championship, beating Judd Trump 18-13 at the end of last season and doesn’t seem to be diminishing in strength despite his advancing years. Part of the ‘Class of ‘92’ both himself, John Higgins and Mark Williams still manage to play to an extremely high standard and go deep into tournaments with numerous finals played. Higgins reached six finals last season, losing five and winning in February the 2022 BetVictor Championship League Invitational title beating Stuart Bingham 3-2 in the final, a tournament that hails the start of the new season and begins today.
Building on the Past
Scotland has a rich history of snooker with the game having been played across the country for many a year. This Celtic land has produced the likes of Eddie Sinclair, Stephen Hendry, Graeme Dott, Ian McCulloch and Stephen Maguire to name but a few and this game is deeply woven into the tartan of the Scottish clans. An event that is part of the highly successful Home Nations tournaments and has the trophy dedicated to Scotland’s most successful snooker player, Stephen Hendry. Along with the British Open, this is definitely a tournament to look forward to in the early part of the season. This is definitely a scoop by World Snooker to manage to secure a venue in Edinburgh and one that WST Chairman Steve Dawson is keen to promote and celebrate:
“We know how disappointed the Scottish fans and players were to miss out on a tournament in their homeland last year, so we are extremely pleased to move the event to Edinburgh this time.
“It’s a new venue for this superb event and we’re excited about bringing snooker to this top-class facility in the Scottish capital. There is such a rich history of great snooker players from Scotland and we know the fans love our sport. This is their chance to get behind their heroes and experience a live event of the highest quality.”
Steve Dawson
