The new Ronnie O’Sullivan Snooker Academy has officially been launched in Boulevard City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It marks the latest step in the country’s recent rapid development of the game, following tournaments that were previously staged in the Kingdom earlier this year.
H.E. Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, was present at the academy’s launch on Monday.
Alalshikh has already stated his intention to grow the sport in the region, with this facility providing young and aspiring players with the opportunity to learn from the game’s greatest ever player.
It is planned that O’Sullivan, who signed a three-year agreement to serve as an ambassador to the country in April, will make several trips to Saudi Arabia in a coaching capacity.
“Amazing to have opened my own snooker academy here in Riyadh,” Ronnie O’Sullivan wrote on social media platform X.
“Massive thank you to Turki Alalshikh and Sela for making it happen. This will be the perfect place to develop future stars locally and globally.”
Nigel Bond, the former world number five who won the 1996 British Open a year after reaching the World Championship final, will serve as the academy’s head coach.
Bond, who retired from professional snooker in 2022, was based at the Star Snooker Academy in Sheffield and also has experience coaching internationally in countries like Germany and Thailand.
An official press release for the launch, meanwhile, stated that “O’Sullivan performed the inaugural shot on the academy’s main table, in the presence of VIPS and invited guests.”
“The establishment of Ronnie O’Sullivan Snooker Academy supports the development of snooker enthusiasts in the Kingdom, offering a significant opportunity for young people to learn the sport and hone their skills in a professional environment that prepares them for local and international competitions.
“Through this academy, Riyadh Season aims to create a new generation of players capable of competing globally and raising the Kingdom’s profile in various sporting arenas.”
The ongoing 2024/25 snooker season doesn’t boast a single player from Saudi Arabia.
It will be interesting to see, then, what kind of impact the Ronnie O’Sullivan Snooker Academy has and if players with pedigree can emerge in the future with main tour cards.
Jason Ferguson, chairman of snooker’s global governing body WPBSA, said: “The facilities at this new flagship academy are superb, emphasising the ambition of our partners to provide the best local talent with the opportunity to play in the right environment.”
“With our all-time greatest Ronnie O’Sullivan as a mentor, they will be inspired by the best.
“The Saudi Arabian Billiards and Snooker Federation and the GEA have our full support as we align with them on sustainable development.
“This partnership is long term. We want to build the sport of snooker in Saudi Arabia for decades, as we have done in China over the past 20 years, while providing the best young players with pathways to success.”
Earlier in 2024, snooker broke new ground in Saudi Arabia by staging a couple of high-profile tournaments in the country.
The invitational World Masters of Snooker, which featured a unique 20-point golden ball as an incentive to compile a rare 167 break, was won by Ronnie O’Sullivan in March.
It was followed by the even more lucrative Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters during the summer.
In what was the first-ever ranking event staged there, Judd Trump won a dramatic final against Mark Williams to pocket the $500,000 champion’s cheque.
Overall, snooker’s venture into the Saudi Arabian market has proven to be controversial, with issues related to sportswashing countering the injection of resources they are pumping in the game.
Featured photo credit: Ronnie O’Sullivan X
