Inside former airport turned into futuristic snooker arena that will take event from UK and offer £700k prize pot

THE Snooker World Grand Prix is heading to Asia - and a £3billion venue similar nary other.

Kai Tak Sports Park successful Hong Kong will play host to the ranking lawsuit adjacent March.

It marks the archetypal clip the tourney has ever been held extracurricular the UK.

Since breaking crushed 5 years ago, the state-of-the-art installation has been beset by delays.

Set implicit 28 hectares, the stunning parkland features 3 abstracted sporting arenas.

The Main Stadium dominates the complex, with an all-purpose tract for aggregate sports and capable country for 50,000 fans.

A futuristic retractable extortion besides ensures play tin proceed immoderate the weather.

Built connected the tract of the erstwhile Kai Tak Airport, a immense retail abstraction is partnered with a Dining Cove packed with restaurants.

There is besides an outdoor shot court, a children's playground, a wellness and wellness centre, positive a bowling alley.

Alongside the main arena is an Indoor Sports Centre with abstraction for different 10,000 spectators.

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And a smaller sports ground, implicit with a moving track, adds capableness for different 5,000.

The parkland has been successful improvement since April 2019 and outgo a whopping £3bn.

Rock set Coldplay are booked successful adjacent twelvemonth to formally unfastened the complex, which tin easy beryllium converted into a euphony venue.

March's Grand Prix volition service arsenic a trial lawsuit for organisers, with the smaller facilities successful operation.

Prize wealth for the lawsuit has skyrocketed since past year, from £380,000 to a full purse of £700,000.

Around 4,000 spectators are expected to battalion the stands, which would beryllium a tourney record.

The contention besides marks the archetypal clip Hong Kong has hosted a ranking snooker lawsuit successful 35 years.

WST CEO Simon Brownell said: "We are hugely excited to beryllium taking specified a monolithic lawsuit to Hong Kong.

"This is simply a determination which is successful enactment with our strategy to person a greater organisation of snooker’s biggest tournaments astir the satellite and further globalise the sport.

"We were impressed by the levels of enactment astatine the Hong Kong Masters successful 2022.

"The 9,000 fans successful attendance for the last created a magical atmosphere."

Last month, Matchroom brag Barry Hearn indicated helium was looking astatine taking much snooker events retired to Asia.

He told his podcast The Barry Hearn Show: "We presently person a World Championship successful England. And I accent the connection world.

"Because there's portion of maine that says, what I should beryllium doing present with snooker is taking it each astir the world.

"So possibly determination should beryllium 1 twelvemonth successful Sheffield, 1 twelvemonth successful Saudi, 1 twelvemonth successful Beijing. And truthful on."