The Paul Hunter Classic has been running in Furth, Germany for the past few years as a Pro-am/Invitational tournament. This year with the introduction of the Players Tour Championship (PTC) and the EPTC it has become a fully fledged event on the World Snooker calendar.

Named in honour of the late Paul Hunter, the tournament, promoted by new WPBSA board member and Hunters former manager Brandon Parker, has helped massively towards the growth of snooker’s popularity in Germany.

Many of the top names in snooker have travelled for this event as it offers ideal match practice so close to the Shanghai Masters, which takes place on the 6th-12th September.

PTC Order of Merit number 1, Barry Pinches, faces a tricky first round tie against Robert Milkins, although the first round proper does not start until Friday.

Before that and already underway are the preliminary rounds which feature a lot of European based amateur players and a lot from the host nation.

Regardless of status, players on the PTC and EPTC can qualify for the Tour Championships, a televised event due to be held in March 2011. This event will have £250,000 in prize money and will feature the top 24 players on the PTC Order of Merit.

The draw and results of the event can be found here: Paul Hunter Classic Draw.

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