But Gentle Hui, the executive president of organisers Beyond Borders Sports Academy, said ticket price did not guarantee a good view and fans needed to balance seeing the action with the chance of getting closer to the players.

Officials at the city’s snooker association said they had decided not to help because of concerns over one of the co-hosts, while government funding was denied because organisers “lacked any experience” of hosting large events.

Originally scheduled to start at 12pm, fans complained their pricey seats were actually temporary chairs lined up on the same level as the table, leaving those in the back rows unable to see anything.

“The arrangements were chaotic, we were all waiting downstairs outside at the 1pm start time,” said Barry Leung, who bought the most expensive category of ticket. “The seats were not correctly numbered and labelled, but this really should have been done long ago.

“It’s also ridiculous the seats for the most expensive tickets are placed horizontally, how are we supposed to watch, let alone the viewing angles if those seats are on the far ends.”

Another fan, who would only give his name as Mr Lau, said he bought tickets to watch O’Sullivan play, and lambasted organisers adding no tournament in the world would have “these seats and such views, they cannot be charging this price”.

Hui said only a handful of fans were unhappy and accused them of trying to “make a scene”.

With the 3,500-seat arena only partially filled before the opening match, organisers eventually allowed people to pick their own seats, and promised to refund the difference in price if they moved to a cheaper section, only for Hui to later change his mind and say each case “would be dealt with individually”.

“I think it’s hard to objectively describe what you should see with the HK$3,380 ticket,” he said. “If you want to see the full table, a HK$880 ticket is actually a great option.

“A spectator needs to balance what they want, is it the close contact and a photo opportunity with the star players? If you want commentary, watching from the television is the best because you don’t get that inside the arena.”

Hui then went on to blame the Hong Kong Billiard Sports Control Council for not helping, but council chairman Vincent Law Wing-chung said there had been concerns over co-hosts, the China Hong Kong Culture Sports and Tourism Association.

Law said as a government-funded body the council was obliged to do its due diligence before endorsing or supporting an event, and the association had not satisfactorily answered questions about their background and experience, and only provided very simple information such as “a business registration”.

“We support the development of the sport but there’s no way for us to just dive into any events without asking questions,” Law said.

In December, the organisers emphasised the need to make a profit when defending charging almost HK$1,000 for the cheapest ticket for an exhibition event.

At the time, Hui said prices had been decided after taking the friendly match involving Inter Miami at the Hong Kong Stadium into account.

He also detailed his organisation’s ambition to develop a “self-sustainable” event, without taking any money from the government. But on Monday, he complained about the dilemma they were facing.

“We would be accused of misusing public funds if we seek government funding,” he said. “And then there will be accusations of us being too commercial [and charging too much for a ticket].

“If we asked for HK$200 per ticket, with 7,000 seats [over two days], do you really think we can invite such a class of players?”

However, the Post has learned the organisers applied for government funding just before the Lunar New Year.

“That request was denied,” Wilfred Ng Sau-kei, chairman of the Major Sports Events Committee, said. “Simply because the organisers lack any experience of hosting mega sports events.”