The Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker gets underway on Monday after something of a confusing build-up to the brand new event in Saudi Arabia.
The tournament was announced in January, with the new gold ball worth 20 points and a potential 167 break grabbing a lot of the headlines.
Little was known at that point on how the logistics of this innovation were going to work, but things have been cleared up ahead of the competition getting started.
While the new ball has long been known about, there has been an unexpected change just before the World Masters of Snooker begins, with Ding Junhui and John Higgins being thrown into the tournament at the last minute.
On Saturday 2 March it was announced that the event had been expanded from 10 to 12 players, with Ding and Higgins facing the wildcard players: Saudi Arabia’s Omar Alajlani and Qatar’s Ali Alobaidli.
Alobaidli has some pedigree in the game, winning the IBSF World Championship last year, a prestigious amateur title won by the likes of Hossein Vafaei and Zhou Yuelong in recent years.
Tickets to the event – held at Global Theatre, Boulevard City, Riyadh – have sold out before a ball has been struck. A ranking tournament for the entire tour, the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, is set to be played next season.
World Masters of Snooker draw and schedule
Monday 4 March
Round One (UK times)
2pm
Ding Junhui vs Omar Alajlani
Followed by
John Higgins vs Ali Alobaidli
Round Two
7pm
Ali Carter vs Ding/Alajlani
Followed by
Mark Williams vs Higgins/Alobaidli
Tuesday 05 March
Quarter-finals
2pm
Mark Allen vs Mark Selby
Followed by
Luca Brecel vs Carter/Ding/Alajlani
7pm
Judd Trump vs Shaun Murphy
Followed by
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Williams/Higgins/Alobaidli
Wednesday 06 March
Semi-finals
2pm
Ding/Alajlani/Carter/Brecel vs Allen/Selby
Trump/Murphy vs Higgins/Alobaidli/Williams/O’Sullivan
Final
7pm
What is happening with the golden ball and possible 167 break?
Each frame will see the addition of a new gold ball from the start, which will be placed on the baulk cushion, in line with the brown spot.
The gold ball can only legally be potted after a 147 has been made, it is worth 20 points, meaning a break of 167 is possible.
As soon as a 147 is no longer a possibility in any frame, the gold ball will be removed.
As per WST: ‘Any foul or infringement involving the Golden Ball incurs a penalty of 4 points or the value of the ball ‘on’, whichever is greater.’
However mad the idea is, the players will be very motivated to make a 167 ‘super maximum’ as the bonus for the first player to do so is $500,000 (£395,000).
It is only the first player to do so that gets that whopping prize, so those entering at the quarter-final stage will be fuming if one is landed by anyone in the first two rounds.
World Masters of Snooker Prize Money
Winner £250,000
Runner-up £125,000
Semi-finals £75,000
Quarter-finals £50,000
Round one £25,000
Preliminary round £5,000
Total £785,000
How to watch the World Masters of Snooker
Eurosport will be showing the event in the UK, with coverage on Eurosport 1 and streaming on Discovery+.
What has been said about snooker’s arrival in Saudi Arabia?
Human Rights abuses in Saudi Arabia are well documented, as set out by Amnesty International.
Peter Frankental, Amnesty International UK’s Economic Affairs director, said of the new event: ‘It was just a matter of time before Saudi Arabia’s huge sportswashing machine sucked in snooker along with almost every other major world sport.
‘If the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump play in Riyadh, they shouldn’t hesitate to speak out about human rights.’
Shaun Murphy told PA: ‘Obviously there is a question over human rights as there should be, but if we (WST) only traded with countries with perfect human rights records, it would be a very, very small pool to pick from.
‘We wouldn’t be trading with the UK either. We haven’t covered ourselves in glory over hundreds of years, going around invading other countries, so people in glass houses need to be careful where they throw their stones.’
Mark Allen told the BBC: ‘If Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region want to throw big money at the sport I’m all for it.
‘There are a lot of countries around the world that do strange things in their decision-making on how they run their countries and we still go and participate in sports round there, and even closer to home there’s probably a lot of things that people wouldn’t support but they still go and take their wage and we’re no different.
‘What I would say is, if you were offered the opportunity would you say yes or would you say no, and I’m pretty sure that everyone would say yes.
‘I’m a snooker player, I’m not a politician. Me turning round and saying ‘I’m not going to play in Saudi’ is not going to change what they do or don’t do in their country.’
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