SNOOKER players with learning disabilities will be showing off their skills at a tournament in Sheffield next month.
The final of the Business Link South Yorkshire Open Tournament – organised by the Hillsborough-based Stephen Harrison Snooker Academy – will take place in the official CueZone marquee in Tudor Square during the World Snooker Championships at the Crucible.
The announcement comes after Sheffield Council gave the go-ahead for the quarter and semi-finals of the competition to be held in the city centre marquee on the opening day of the world competition.
The open tournament has attracted interest from across the UK it aims to showcase the benefits snooker can give to people with learning disabilities, who might not ordinarily get the chance to play the game. Stephen, a former snooker pro, said: "We're extremely happy the World Snooker authorities have given us the green light to play the final at CueZone.
"It has added that extra bit of excitement among the entrants, who will now be playing for the chance to play right next door to the home of snooker at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, during the first week of the world championships.
"You couldn't begin to estimate the excitement of some of the players."
The tournament is part of a wider campaign to raise £40,000 to enable the academy to provide new premises dedicated to providing snooker coaching and mentoring services to a range of socially-excluded groups.
As part of the campaign Stephen will be holding a snooker fundraising marathon and 24-hour world record attempt, inviting local celebrities and members of the public to challenge him to a frame of snooker at his club, Trickshots at Hillsborough Corner.
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