Higgins eyes new events

The inaugural 2008 series opened in Jersey before moving to Berlin and will finish in Moscow later in the year. Co-promoter Higgins said that interest has grown now that the project is up and running.

"Since the event started, other countries have seen the event on Eurosport and expressed an interest in hosting an event," he said.

"Even places like Spain and Italy who I never would have thought would be interested in hosting a snooker event have been in touch.

"I see examples of the sport's growing popularity all the time. I was in Portugal recently and people were recognising me and that never would have happened 10 years ago."

This weekend the tournament returns to Warsaw, which hosted the tour's pilot event last year, and a top quality line-up awaits the Polish fans.

Six-times world champion Steve Davis, reigning Warsaw champion Mark Selby, Chinese sensation Ding Junhui and former Crucible victor Ken Doherty will line up against four local players at the event.

One tour pro and one Polish player, as selected by Higgins, will then move on to the Grand Final in Moscow at the end of the year.

"It gives us a chance to bring in local talent," said Higgins.

"It is a dream for some of these guys to play against their heroes in the type of match conditions we are used to on the tour.

"I look at someone like Ding Junhui who came out of China and became a world star and I wonder why we can't have someone from Poland or Germany or the Czech Republic do something similar in five or 10 years time?

"But we have to give them a chance. With the way that snooker is organised at the moment it would take someone four or five years to break through the log-jam. With the World Series we are trying to offer them little short-cuts and a little taste."

Higgins admitted that there have been some teething problems with the tour so far this year, but he is expecting decent crowds in Poland.

"Obviously it is a new series and there will be a few blips but that is to be expected," he conceded.

"There were some problems in Jersey - they didn't come through with some of the things they promised us - and we probably won't be going back, but on the flip side the tournament in Berlin was an enormous success.

"We had packed houses of 1200 at every event and people there were saying they were the biggest crowds they had seen at any snooker event in Germany for 10-15 years.

"We hope to have something in between in Poland... with a marketing push we hope to have around 90 per cent of the tickets sold by the time the tournament starts."

The Grand Final takes place in Moscow from November 21-23, and Higgins has said that it is a calculated gamble to have the finale in Russia. However, he is of the belief that not enough of these types of risks have been taken by the sport in the past.

"Russia is a massive potential market; I'll admit the interest level in snooker is quite low there at the moment, but you have to start somewhere and if we keep coming back interest will grow," he said.

"Even back home in the UK we have been struggling to get column inches for big events, and for too long we have been happy to have events only in the UK.

"World Snooker is doing some good work in Asia, but nothing is being done in mainland Europe and that is why the World Series is trying to tap into this market.

"A lot of people would love to go to the UK for the big events but they can't afford to. However, someone in Europe with a car might be able to get to somewhere like Poland or Germany.

"The interest level is growing, and with Eurosport's backing, we are giving snooker fans a chance to see their heroes."