Following poor attendances at this year’s Grand Prix tournament in Glasgow there has been speculation as to where the tournament will be staged in 2010 and it would appear that Preston could be in the running once again…
Home of the event from 1998-9 and 2001-5, the Guild Hall in Preston was a very popular event with players and fans alike and according to this article at lep.co.uk, organisers of the venue have not given up hope of bringing the tournament back in the future. Chris Haylett, general manager of the Guild Hall and Charter Theatre is quoted as saying:
“We have always been trying to negotiate over the snooker.
“We are in talks again for the Grand Prix next year and we have pencilled in dates but that is as far as its gone at the moment.
“In these economic times they want a deal that is in their favour so it is about getting a balance really.
“There are conversations, there are e-mails, it is still there.”
As you can see, any potential deal is far from agreed but it is interesting to see that they are still trying to bring the event back to the venue. Having been staged at four different venues in the past five years, I think it is important that wherever the event does end up, it finds a settled home and develops some sort of identity. If the event were to come back to England then perhaps another ranking event could be organised in Scotland, or even a big invitational event as has been the case in the past.
Where would you like to see the tournament staged next year?