Saudi Arabia hosts its first-ever event on the World Snooker Tour, as eight of the world's leading players head to the country's capital city for the Riyadh Season World Masters. Beginning on Monday, March 4, the tournament is the newest addition of this season's tour and was only confirmed a month ago, but that won't stop the 10 contenders from doing all they can to secure the prize.
The prize pool in question totals $1 million, and will see top seed Luca Brecel and current World Masters champion Ronnie O'Sullivan enter the tournament as heavy favourites, although wildcard players and rules respectively have been added to make this event a unique one in the sport's packed calendar.
As the inaugural WST event to be held in Saudi Arabia, anticipation is high that the calibre of players taking to the table in Riyadh, as well as the introduction of a potentially game-changing golden ball rule, can help to make this event one which becomes a staple of the global snooker calendar for many years to come.
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When is the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker?
The first ever edition of the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker begins on Monday, March 4, 2024 at the Boulevard Arena in Boulevard City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The tournament will span three days before concluding on Wednesday, March 6.
Although specific session times for the two wildcard matches and following quarterfinals onwards are yet to be confirmed, the local time in Riyadh (AST) is three hours ahead of the UK (GMT).
Which players are playing at Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker?
The 10-player tournament in Riyadh will be contested by the world's current top-eight ranked players and two wildcard qualifiers, with Belgium's Luca Brecel, the current world champion, seeded at the top of the rankings coming into the tournament. Ronnie O'Sullivan has already won two of the three events in this season's Triple Crown, and is seeded second behind Brecel as a result.
The two wildcards will be taken up by local players who qualify by winning the pre-tournament competition, before facing off against seventh and eighth seeds Mark Williams and Ali Carter respectively for a place in the quarterfinals.
| Seed | Player | Country |
| 1 | Luca Brecel | Belgium |
| 2 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | England |
| 3 | Judd Trump | England |
| 4 | Mark Allen | Northern Ireland |
| 5 | Mark Selby | England |
| 6 | Shaun Murphy | England |
| 7 | Mark Williams | Wales |
| 8 | Ali Carter | England |
Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker rules
After Williams and Carter have faced their respective wildcard players in the final qualifiers, the tournament proper will begin with the quarterfinals, culminating with the final on Wednesday, March 6. The quarterfinal draw is as follows:
- Luca Brecel vs Ali Carter or wildcard player 1
- Mark Allen vs Mark Selby
- Judd Trump vs Shaun Murphy
- Ronnie O'Sullivan vs Mark Williams or wild card player 2
The matches will be played under the standard rules of the World Snooker Tour, however for this tournament there's a twist thrown into play that gives each of the 10 players an extra incentive.
What is the golden ball rule in Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker?
That twist is the implementation of a unique golden ball rule, which will see a new gold-coloured 'Riyadh Season Ball' entered onto the table which is worth 20 points alone.
It can only be potted once all of the other balls have been successfully cleared from the table with the player on a maximum break of 147 points, and thus potting the golden ball will take that score up to a world-record 167.
However, the ambiguous prospect of where and when the Riyadh season ball will be placed on the table itself over the course of a game, suggests that it's going to be a tall order for any of the 10 contenders to secure that 167 maximum break.