After a Riyadh Season World Masters invitation event was previously announced for next month with the addition of a golden ball on the table worth 20 points, the new Masters event is open to the entire tour in addition to six local wildcards and will be held in Riyadh between August 31 and September 7. Saidi Arabia will be the “fourth major” for Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Snooker has become the latest sport to align itself with Saudi Arabia, and only the World Championship has a prize fund that is larger. It also represents another significant investment in the Middle East.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is probably going to play and has proactively called for additional competitions to be held in Saudi Arabia. ” Tune in, the Saudis can do what they like – they’re a strong outfit,” he recently said. ” I think it’ll be great, it’d be perfect to get out there and play, each and every other game is by all accounts doing stuff in Saudi so it’d be perfect to get out there.
Eddie Hearn has upheld snooker to flourish in Saudi Arabia. ( Image: Getty Images) “It’s totally different. They’re taking a stab at something else, and ideally every one of the players can get behind that. I think each player needs to be quick to follow through with something, so it’ll be an extraordinary accomplishment on the off chance that I can make it happen.”
Eddie Hearn brought boxing to the Middle East and believes that the new Saudi Arabian snooker tournament can start a new and exciting chapter. The Realm of Saudi Arabia has gained notoriety for development and setting out new open doors for sports to fill in another market to new fans,” the Matchroom Game executive said.
