An interesting line from World Snooker today as it has been announced that the winner of the 2015 Pan-American Snooker Championship will earn not only a two-year tour card from the 2015/16 season, but also a place at this season’s World Championship qualifiers in Sheffield, in line with changes announced by Barry Hearn at the Crucible last April.
It is not a new development to see America receive a main tour spot, Igor Figueiredo having taken the Americas nomination at the start of the 2013/14 season, while last season due to the fact that the All Americas Championship was not held, the spot was ultimately given to Hossein Vafaei Ayouri as explained here.
It is a positive development to see that a tournament has been earmarked for the tour place at this stage however and with Figueiredo still currently on the tour, it will be interesting to see who can come through as the winner in Bolivia and ultimately, whether they are able to obtain the level of sponsorship required in order to compete regularly on the professional circuit.
The 2015 Pan-American Snooker Championship will take place between 27-30 January 2015.