<p>It's a crappy photo, but this really is the best illustration of the story of my day. It's qualifying for the India Open Snooker Tournament, so of course it's in...Preston.
</p><p>That might seem counter intuitive, but it's how these things are seemingly run.
</p><p>There are lots of snooker tournaments all around the world now, but the huge majority of snooker players - including many foreign ones - are based in the UK. For this reason, qualifying for lots of global events happens in the UK, and it's frequently in the north of England. It might seem strange to see qualifying for the Australian open in a leisure centre in Barnsley, but it really is what happens. In the Preston Guild Hall this week it seems qualifying events are taking place for three different events across the world. 
</p><p>This works out really well for people who get knocked out in the first round and have saved the travel costs to India, but you do have to really feel for the Chinese lads we saw today who have probably had to fly out from China for their two hour match.
</p><p>I've never been to an event like this before, and if I'm honest I think I actually preferred it to the tournament play that I've seen before.
</p><p>There were eight tables, seating all the way around the arena and a tiny, tiny audience. I believe at one point, albeit briefly, the players and referees outnumbered the spectators. 
</p><p>That's not to say the play wasn't worth seeing. There were some top names there, including Ken Doherty, Stephen Maguire, Shaun Murphy, Anthony McGill, Matthew Stevens, Barry Hawkins and even lurking on the back seats for a while Jimmy White! It was great fun to watch and it's pretty hard to argue with the value for money. Eight and a half hours of top quality live snooker. Ticket price...a fiver.
</p>
Happy days. :)
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/23408922@N07">Pete</a> from Liverpool, UK
CC BY 2.0
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/comedynose/26753541323/">Project 366 #151: 300516 Little India</a>