A galaxy of illustrious snooker stars are set to shine during the highly anticipated National Sports Club of India (NSCI) organized ‘Baulkline 3.0’, an All India Snooker Open 2024, which boasts of an impressive prize purse of Rs 18.5 lakhs. This premier snooker tournament is scheduled to take place at the NSCI billiards hall in Worli from January 6 to 19, 2024, marking a stellar commencement to the domestic snooker season.
Leading the array of stars, who would be vying for the top honours and the high stakes on offer, include National champion Saurav Kothari, who reigned supreme in the inaugural edition in 2022, last year’s champion Laxman Rawat, runners-up Aditya Mehta, multiple-time world champion Pankaj Advani, who will be making his debut. A hosts of top-notch snooker players from across the country will also be competing for the top honours.
‘Baulkline 3.0’ stands out as a pinnacle in the realm of All India Open 15-Red Snooker championships. This event also provides a platform for budding amateurs to showcase their talents against the seasoned pros. The tournament kicks off with a qualifying draw, a direct knockout format on January 6, with 32 players from the qualifying draw joining 32 direct participants, to enter the main draw, initiating from January 13.
The qualifying draw will also feature some heavyweights which include Sparsh Pherwani, Mahesh Jagdale, Rovin D’Souza, Nitesh Madan, Hasan Badami, Shivam Arora, Siddharth Parikh, Dhvaj Haria, Vishwajeet Mohan, Anuj Uppal, Subrat Das, Vijay Nichani, Piyush Kushwa, Shahbaaz Adil Khan, Hrithik Jain, and Girish Rajasekar.
Boasting of an enhanced total prize pool of Rs 18.5 lakhs, which makes it one of the richest prize-money tournament in the country. The third edition promises a winner’s purse of Rs 5 lakhs, with the runner-up receiving 2.5 lakhs. The losing semi-finalists will each pocket Rs one lakh, while the four losing quarter-finalists will claim Rs 50,000 each. Cash prizes will cascade down to earlier rounds, with Rs. 5,000 awarded to the 32 qualifiers. Additionally, the organizing committee will present a substantial prize of Rs 1.47 lakh for achieving the maximum break of 147.
Don’t miss the action as the classy Baulkline 3.0 unfolds, showcasing the epitome of snooker excellence and offering an exciting start to the 2024 domestic snooker season.