The World Snooker Federation (WSF) welcomed Scottish Snooker as the latest National Federation to become a full member on Tuesday.
The move is another significant step in a year which back in April saw Scottish Snooker, led by its Chairman Paul Marinello, reach an agreement with the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) for both bodies to work together to promote snooker and billiards in Scotland.
Now working as part of the WSF, this will see the creation of further opportunities as early as next month to support the efforts already being carried out by Scottish Snooker.
The WSF and Scottish Snooker additionally announced that two significant amateur finals will be played next month at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, alongside the final stages of the Scottish Open event staged by World Snooker.
Won in 2016 by Hong Kong’s Marco Fu, the third event of the Home Nations series will provide unprecedented exposure for Scottish Snooker and allow them to showcase their talent next to the world’s best players.
The first event will be the final of the Scottish Open Championship, the third main tour event of the 2017/18 season that is set to be played from 32 players down to the final this weekend at the Red Triangle Snooker Club in Cumbernauld.
The two players who make it through will not only battle for ranking points and prize money next month in Glasgow, but for a place at the EBSA European Championship in Sofia next February as well.
The final of the Masters Event 2 competition is also set to be contested between Glaswegian former professional Richy McDonald and Perth’s Scott Dunbar.
WSF President Jason Ferguson said: “We are extremely pleased with the work being carried out by Paul and his team at Scottish Snooker and are delighted to welcome them to the WSF family.”
“As another body that shares our vision for the governance of our sport and with legends of the game including Stephen Hendry and John Higgins hailing from the country, we are looking forward to helping them to develop Scotland’s stars of the future.”
Scottish Snooker Chairman Paul Marinello said: “These are exciting times for our sport in Scotland and following the launch of the World Snooker Federation last month it was only natural for us to want to become a part of snooker’s global future.
“Furthermore, the opportunity to host two of our biggest finals alongside a prestigious event such as World Snooker’s Scottish Open is fantastic for Scottish Snooker and highlights the progress that is being made by the WPBSA to develop the sport at amateur level.”
Earlier in November, the UAE, Thailand, and Singapore National Federations all joined the WSF.
Click the link to learn more about the World Snooker Federation, which launched in October 2017.