The idea of Bendigo as a sporting Mecca doesn't sound quite right, but for the following week that's exactly what it is as the Bendigo Stadium plays host to the Goldfields Open, the first ranking snooker tournament ever held in Australia.

In keeping with the boomtown's history, a purse of $425,000 (sadly not in panned gold) has attracted the world's best players for a weeklong tournament, concluding on Sunday July 24. It is not just the prize money, nor the splendid Victorian architecture, that has attracted the finest cueists in the world to Bendigo. The ranking points on offer make the event one of the top seven tournaments in the 2011-12 professional calendar.

The tournament's biggest draw is Victoria's 2010 world champion, Neil Robertson (pictured above). The Mt Dandenong-born leftie opens his account on Tuesday evening against Nigel Bond, and he is joined in his home state by the majority of the snooker world's elite. Current world title holder, John Higgins, seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry and world No.1 Mark Williams are all in town, as well as the increasingly powerful Chinese contingent, led by recent World Cup winners Ding Junhui and Liang Wenbo.

Crowd favourite, Ronnie O'Sullivan, withdrew after pulling up lame on the flight to Bangkok, the previous stop on the world snooker carousel.

Robertson is joined in the tournament by two other Australians, the Mifsud brothers, James and Steve. James lost in the tournament's first result, to Dave Gilbert, but Steve, currently the No.1-ranked player in Australia, will fancy his chances against world No.31, Dominic Dale.

A small crowd of devotees filed politely in for the opening session but the couple of hundred or so enjoying the early exchanges proved barely enough to provide a fitting backdrop for the live television coverage. Organisers expect to reach capacity over the weekend.

The home of the Braves (Bendigo Braves basketball team) is also the land of the free car parking, so the tournament experience is as stress-free as they come.

The early attendees fit mostly in the predictable bracket of men of a certain age - as would befit an event beginning at 1pm on a Monday afternoon in a regional centre. Matthew, from Woodend, reflected the prevailing view that the tournament was his best opportunity to watch the game's superstars at first hand.

"I've loved snooker since I was a teenager and always wanted to go over to England to watch the champs play so this is a great opportunity," he told me. "Instead of spending so much money on a plane ticket, to be able to go and see the champs on our doorstep is really exciting. We've been looking forward to this for a long time now and we didn't think it was ever going to make it to Australia so it's pretty exciting."

Standing out amongst the silver foxes are small pockets of attentive Chinese supporters. China is fast becoming snooker's home, and after being crowned World Cup winners overnight, it is easy to see why.

Glen, a Monash University student from Beijing, typified this new breed of snooker aficionado. "I've come here to see Ding [Junhui]. He's not playing today though but I came anyway because I thought I would see O'Sullivan - but he's not here either. I like them all though, my friends are all big snooker fans. We will be back on Wednesday to see Ding and then we'll be here for the semi-finals and final."

Despite the tournament's importance in the snooker calendar, and the obvious pride the City of Greater Bendigo has taken to staging the event, its penetration into the wider sporting agenda is not obvious. I am filing this report in an otherwise empty pressroom in the heart of the stadium after discussing with commentary legend, Clive Everton, the disappointing lack of interest in the game in parts of the world that were former strongholds. There is live television coverage but little further media presence beyond the local daily.

Gold was first struck in the alluvial fields of the Bendigo Valley in 1851. In keeping, the modern prospectors have returned 160 years later sporting period-fashion waistcoats and bow ties. The organisers of the Goldfields Open and its competitors join the long list speculating that regional Victoria still has a few more nuggets left to uncover.