UK Open Pool event switches to Essex

The UK Open Pool Championship is to be staged in Essex for the first time as part of a drive to boost the game's profile in the UK.

The event in Brentwood, from 25-30 May next year, will be part of the first phase of the 2026 World Nine Ball Tour schedule with 256 players set to take part and an increased prize fund of £167,500 ($225,000).

Singapore's Aloysius Yapp won the UK title earlier this year, beating Spain's Jonas Souto 13-1 in the final, played in Telford.

Promoters Matchroom believe moving the event back closer to London will help grow the game's popularity.

"There is something with Nine Ball Pool and we're seeing a similarity when darts started (taking off) - no-one would have thought so many people would be packed in at Ally Pally this Christmas for a darts game," Emily Frazer, chief executive of Matchroom Multi Sport, told BBC Essex.

"Nine Ball appeals to a younger audience, and to so many different people around the world, it feels like it's accessible but when you actually sit down and you watch the top pros play, you think 'that's a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.'"

Scotland's Jayson Shaw, who helped Europe win the Mosconi Cup earlier this month in London with an 11-3 victory over the USA, is the leading British challenger, ranked 16 in the world.

The UK Open will see amateurs playing alongside 128 professional players from more than 50 different countries, and there is also a junior event, expected to attract players as young as seven.

"It's dramatic, it's exciting but we need to work on it in the UK and bringing it to Brentwood is how we're going to do it," Frazer said.

Emily Frazer was speaking to BBC Essex's Sonia Watson