World Cup is Back!

World Snooker announced this weekend the World Snooker Cup will be back!

"World Snooker's prestigious World Cup 2015 will be held in the city of Wuxi in China. 24 teams will be chasing glory for their nation and the US200,000 winner's prize.

The snooker World Cup has a long history dating back to 1979. Previous winners include Wales, England, Canada, Ireland, Scotland and the current holders China.

The 2015 World Cup will run from June 15 to 21 in Wuxi in China's Jiangsu Province. 

Each of the 24 teams will consist of two players, and there will be 23 nations represented, with host nation China allowed to enter two teams. 

Nations in line to compete include Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, England, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Ireland, Malaysia, Malta, Norway, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Thailand and Wales. The full contingent of nations competing will be published following the completion of World Snooker's Q-School in May. 

Selection of the players will be based on their world ranking at the end of the 2015 World Championship. 

The 24 teams will be divided into four groups of six teams, with each team to play five matches in the group stages. The top two teams in each group qualify for the knock-out stages.

The format will be a combination of singles and doubles play. 

WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson said: 'We are delighted to bring the World Cup back on to the calendar for the first time since 2011, and especially to stage it in the wonderful city of Wuxi.

'World Cups are always fantastic events in any sport because the players feel as if they are representing a nation, and the fans in each country can get right behind their team. Snooker is usually an individual game, so to play in a team brings a new kind of pressure. The players will be striving to climb the ranking list between now and the end of the season to earn a World Cup place.

'Snooker has grown massively as an international sport in recent years so it is fitting that we are now bringing back the World Cup. There is some incredible talent out there among nations which have not traditionally been snooker hot-beds, and now those players have the opportunity to show their skill on a major stage. 

'I would like to pay tribute to the CBSA and the promoter in Wuxi for their hard work in bringing this event to fruition. We plan for it to become a biennial event, with the next one to take place in 2017. With so much support for snooker in China, I have no doubt the World Cup will be a great success.' " text from World Snooker Website.

Snooker fans looked divided with World Snooker's decision, one side says 2 players is not a team, and the others like the idea.

I personally agree with both opinions, you can't say two players is a team, but at least the tournament is back and of course WPBSA will work to increase the number of players in each team.

The fact it's a biennial event will give it an extra bright, and of course it's nice to have a large event like this in China, showing Snooker is really growing outside UK and big enough in China.

The only shame about it is that the tournament is replacing the Wuxi Classic, which was one of the most established events in China and used to attract a big public, what others Chinese events don't.

But it might be the reason for the World Cup to be seeded there in this part of the year.

Of course this tournament isn't going to be one of the most important in the World right now, but I hope it gets big and I'm sure the players will look forward for this.

Thursday was a day-off in the World Grand Prix in Llandudno but the players will be back in action for the Quarter-Finals today, be sure you're following us on Facebook not to lost any result from Snooker's newest tournament in Wales.

Ronnie O`Sullivan plays Graeme Dott  today in a best of 7 match at 19:00 Local/Welsh Time.