Portugal hosts World Series Snooker Final

From 8 to 10 May, Portimão Arena in the Algarve will host the World Series Snooker Grand Final which will be held in Portugal for the first time. Bringing together the world’s greatest snooker players, the event will be one of the major highlights of Allgarve ’09 – the culture, sports, music and gastronomy programme for the Algarve region running this summer for the third consecutive year.

Eight of the world’s top-12 snooker players from across the world will come to the Algarve to battle over the title for Snooker World Champion 2009. Eight British players will be taking part in the event, including six-time World Champion Steve Davis, world number 3 Shaun Murphy and Scotland’s John Higgins, one of snooker’s all-time greats.

Other countries represented at the event are Ireland with Ken Doherty, China with 22-year old Ding Junhui, as well as Brazil, Germany, Belgium, Israel and Poland. The event is expected attract thousands of spectators to the Algarve and will be watched by over 114 million people on television in 59 countries.

Snooker is only one of the sports featured in the Allgarve 09 programme, with other major sporting events including the Portugal Power Boat F1 Grand Prix in Alvor, the Le Mans Series 2009 and the Portugal Golf Masters, as well as the SuperBike Grand Prix, which will be held for the second time in the new Portimão Racetrack.

In addition to top sporting events, visitors to the Algarve this summer will be able to enjoy a series of concerts including Joss Stone and Portuguese fado star Mariza, as well as a plethora art exhibitions and gastronomy festivals.

For further information on Portugal go to visitportugal.com.