JOHN Higgins, the four-time world champion, believes that snooker in Scotland has had it's best days but he argues that the sport would be missing a trick if a tournament is not established north of the border.
"There will always be place for snooker in Britain but there are snooker clubs shutting down all over Scotland now. It's a real shame but it just goes to show that there's not the people going into these clubs to spend their money."
The last mainstream ranking tournament to be staged in Scotland was the 2010 World Open in Glasgow, in which Higgins and his compatriots Stephen Hendry, Stephen Maguire and Graeme Dott were all in action.Since then, and following the appointment of Barry Hearn as chairman of World Snooker, more and more tournaments have been staged abroad.
The appetite for the sport beyond Scotland, and, indeed, the United Kingdom, is enormous; five ranking tournaments are held in China, which is thought likely to be where the World Championship will be hosted in the forseeable future.
Higgins hopes that the Scottish Open, being staged at the Ravenscraig Sports Facility in Motherwell, can be the catalyst to a resurgence for the sport in Scotland.
"It would be a traversty if we did not have had a tournament here [in Scotland], especially with the number of great players we've had over the years," he said. "The facility we've got here at Ravenscraig – I was born only about a mile down the road – is first class.
"Snooker has a rich heritage in this country and there are some very talented young players. I hope they can start breaking through over the next couple of years."
Yesterday was the first day of action at the three-day event, with play on 10 tables, after a day of qualifying ties on Thursday in which amateurs had the chance to shine.
On the table, the Scottish contingent began strongly with wins in their opening ties for Jamie Burnett, Alan McManus, Scott Donaldson, Anthony McGill and Graeme Dott.
Burnett, the Hamilton-based professional, had breaks of 88, 42 and 60 in a 4-3 win over the Englishman Chris Norbury, while McManus defeated Lucky Vatnami 4-1 with runs of 46 and 77.
Donaldson, a promising youngster, edged out the two-time ranking event runner-up Jamie Cope 4-3 despite mustering a top break of just 37, while McGill was impressive in a 4-0 disposal of Michael Walsey.
Dott, the former world champion, was a 4-2 win over the Welshman Daniel Wells, with breaks of 51, 42, 46 and 47.
However, most of the Scots were not so fortunate in the second round with only McGill making further progress. He beat Mark Davis 4-3 then coasted to a 4-0 victory over Robert Milkins, to set up a last-16 tie against Nigel Bond.
Higgins will begin his challenge today against the qualifier Jordan Brown, while Stephen Maguire, the former UK champion, faces Peter Lines, and Marcus Campbell and Fraser Patrick meet in an all-Scottish encounter.
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