Bangalore, Sep 12 (IANS): The Indian Open professional ranking snooker tournament, scheduled to be held in Mumbai Oct 13-17, has been postponed to March 10-14 next year, according to Billiards and Snooker Federation of India (BSFI) secretary S. Balasumbramaniam.

The postponement was done due to its dates clashing with the Maharashtra state elections, he said in a press release Friday.

"The BSFI and World Snooker have today decided to postpone the Indian Open 2014 due to the clash of dates with state elections in Maharashtra. The government has advised that it is preferred that the mega event is postponed to a later convenient date," the release said.

"Taking into consideration these factors and the availability of slots in the World Snooker calendar, it has been decided that the championship would now be held from March 10-14, 2015, at the same venue, the Grand Hyatt in Mumbai."

The statement added: "World Snooker will advise later on the dates of the qualifying tournament for the event in March. As far as the Indian wild cards are concerned, the qualifying tournament that is underway will form the basis for selection to the event."