World Snooker Tour announces Saudi Arabia snooker tournament – with golden ball worth 20 points

Snooker is heading to Saudi Arabia, following the announcement of the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker.

A host of top-class sporting events have filled Riyadh Season, and it was confirmed on Thursday that snooker would take up a slot from March 4-6.

Boulevard Arena in Boulevard City, Riyadh, will host the event, and World Snooker confirmed “record seven-time World Snooker Championship winner Ronnie O’Sullivan, 2019 world champion Judd Trump and current holder Luca Brecel” would feature in the 10-player field.

The deal was thrashed out by “Eng. Faisal Bafarat, CEO of GEA, and Steve Dawson, chairman of World Snooker Tour, in the presence of HE Advisor Turki Alalshikh, as well as sports promoters Eddie Hearn and Barry Hearn.”

HE Advisor Turki Alalshikh said: “We are thrilled to be hosting our first-ever professional snooker tournament in the Kingdom. Snooker is watched and played by millions around the world and we look forward to welcoming some of the greatest players and snooker fans to our country and showing them what Saudi Arabia and Riyadh Season has to offer.”

“The expansion, we are seeing snooker in new territories with exhibitions popping up in different places, and it is amazing that Saudi Arabia wants to get involved.”

Steve Dawson said: “It is a great privilege for the World Snooker Tour to work in partnership with HE Advisor Turki Alalshikh to stage an event in Saudi Arabia for the first time.

“This is a huge breakthrough for snooker into a new territory, and we see this as the beginning of a new adventure for our sport in the region.

“We are looking forward to being a part of Riyadh Season on this fantastic new event featuring the world’s best players. We will be honoured to bring our sport to the amazing city of Riyadh, and for the local fans this will be their first chance to see some of snooker’s all-time greats.”

While the event will be played under World Snooker rules, interest was piqued by the announcement of “an innovative new concept, a 23rd ball known as the Riyadh Season ball. This gold ball will be worth 20 points and can only be potted once all other balls have been successfully cleared from the table if a player is on a maximum break to make it 167.”

Eddie Hearn confirmed the field would comprise of eight stars of snooker along with two wildcards, with a prize fund of $1 million (£787,000).