BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The 2017 World Snooker Open will kick off on September 18th in Yushan county, Jiangxi province, announced the organizers here on Sunday.
It's the second consecutive year for the Southeastern China's county to host the World Snooker Open. The week-long competition offers a total prize of 700,000 pounds with the champion pocketing 150,000.
Mark Selby, John Higgins and home favorite Ding Junhui are among the 72 players who have confirmed to take part in.
The tournament was first held in Haikou of Hainan Province from 2012 to 2014 before Yushan took over in 2016.
The local government signed a contract for four years with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association on Sunday.
"This is a great event of World Snooker, and of course a boost for the promotion and popularity of this sport," said World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn.
