Taom Chalk puts Finnish Snooker on the map.

AgueFit
106 followers
9 Video Views·Jan 7, 2023
It's one of the most stable countries in the world, and snooker is booming.
So is it time to take professional tournaments to Finland?
This is Break From Life.
Finland is a country situated in the northeast of Europe.
For our viewers who are less good at geography, that's here.
For our American viewers, Europe is here.
This Scandinavian country has never held a professional snooker tournament,
despite a large and growing interest in the sport, and technically one professional player.
That said, its grassroots game seems on par with that of the UK.
All this with a country of less than 6 million people.
A Pro-Am event back in 2010 proved popular,
but hasn't grabbed enough attention to get a full professional event.
Eight years later, being able to stage a professional event does require a team of people
dedicated to the location to take responsibility for it.
It goes without saying, anyone who puts on an event like this
will want their money's worth by the end of it.
People don't like losing their money.
Finland's limited population will affect its chances
like age seems to be affecting Dennis Taylor's mind.
That said, we have new tournaments in places like Latvia, Poland, Hong Kong, Thailand and India,
established on the calendar already.
It is then only a matter of time before somewhere like Finland gets a chance,
and why not, it's already got so much going for it.
It is a predominantly flat country covered in lakes.
It is one of the richest countries in the world per capita,
and also one of the most stable.
For some reason, its people have the world's largest obsession with heavy metal,
so it's a positive Ronnie's Claw Grip may play well here,
or at least get some respect.
The north of the country is inside the Arctic Circle,
which does result in summers of unending sunshine,
which won't be good for Stuart Bingham's skin.
But most of the population live in the far south of the country,
with over 20% living around the capital, in the greater Helsinki area.
The low winter temperatures and low on winter nights
make an indoor sport like snooker ideally suited to the conditions.
Lots of snooker clubs even have their own saunas,
and offer up tournaments with more prize money
than you would see in somewhere like the UK.
Now, obviously, to get well snooker here would take a backup,
a large enough venue,
a successful bidding process,
and a free gap in the calendar,
and some great places to stay,
and some support from the locals,
and a good amount of prize money,
and a willingness from the right people to go there.
But if we get all that sorted,
I definitely believe that Finland has to be looked at next.
If we don't, we could easily lose countries like this
to sports like short-match bowls,
or ping-pong.
So let's not make this into another dull Sweden,
and get behind hashtag Finnish snooker forever.
If Finland does get an event,
how will you see it?
Well, we've thought of that.
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