Saudi Arabia’s First World Snooker Event to Feature Maximum Break of 167
Saudi Arabia announced it would host the inaugural Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker in March, featuring a never-before maximum break of 167.
The 10-man invitational will be held between 4-6 March at Boulevard Arena in Boulevard City, Riyadh. Among the players already confirmed are the record seven-time World Snooker Championship winner Ronnie O’Sullivan, the 2019 World Champion Judd Trump and the reigning holder Luca Brecel.
Each game will be played under World Snooker rules and regulations, but for the introduction of an innovative new concept, a 23rd ball. This gold ball, to be called the Riyadh Season 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.
The tournament will become a part of Riyadh Season, the annual entertainment and sports festival, that was launched in 2019. Riyadh Season starts in October and ends towards March.
An agreement to this effect was signed between Faisal Bafarat, CEO of General Entertainment Authority (GEA), and Steve Dawson, Chairman of World Snooker Tour, in the presence of Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the GEA.
Alalshikh commented: “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.”
Chairman Dawson added: “It is a great privilege for the World Snooker Tour 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.”
Speaking to World Snooker Tour, Trump said: “It’s amazing for snooker to be going to different places. I think we are seeing snooker in new territories now with exhibitions popping up in different places and it is amazing that Saudi Arabia wants to get involved.”
Confirmation on all 10 participants and schedule will be announced soon.
