The top ten players from the world rankings will be in the draw participating at the upcoming Riyadh Season Snooker Championship in Saudi Arabia.
The World Snooker Tour returns to the Kingdom for the third time in 2024, with the lucrative invitational tournament scheduled for December 18th to 20th.
It’s effectively the same event as the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker that took place in March earlier this year.
Ronnie O’Sullivan emerged as the inaugural champion when he defeated Luca Brecel in the final to claim the £250,000 champion’s cheque.
Both players will return for the second edition of the competition, which has been given an updated name presumably to better distinguish it from the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters ranking event.
Snooker’s golden ball
This is the same event that controversially introduced a new golden ball worth 20 points that can only be potted at the end of a 147 break.
It means that the highest possible break for the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship is 167 (175 with a free ball).
In March, there was a $500,000 reward for the first player to achieve the new feat, but none of the players got particularly close.
Turki Alalshikh, chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA), immediately announced that the jackpot would be doubled to $1,000,000 for the tournament’s next edition.
Who else is in the draw?
The top six from the official world rankings will be seeded through to the quarter-finals.
That includes world number one Judd Trump and world champion Kyren Wilson, who are in the same half of the draw and could clash in the semi-finals.
Reigning champion Ronnie O’Sullivan is the top seed and features in the top half of the draw alongside world number three Mark Selby.
Marks Allen and Williams also enjoy byes through to the last eight with the pair drawn to face Selby and Trump respectively.
Trump, Williams, and O’Sullivan have been high-profile withdrawals at this week’s Scottish Open, but it’s highly unlikely that they’ll skip Saudi Arabia with the increased riches on offer.
The remaining four professional players will enter in two staggered rounds that will launch the 2024 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.
Chinese duo Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda – numbers nine and ten in the world – must start in the opening round against two wildcard additions who are yet to be announced.
The winners will advance to face Shaun Murphy and Luca Brecel to complete the quarter-final lineup.
More details about the tournament, including how to watch, will be published on SnookerHQ.com ahead of the start date.
2024 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship draw
– Round of 12 (bo7) –
Wednesday, Dec 18th – From 2pm UTC
Ding Junhui vs Wildcard
Zhang Anda vs Wildcard
– Round of 10 (bo7) –
Wednesday, Dec 18th – From 7pm UTC
Shaun Murphy vs Ding/Wildcard
Luca Brecel vs Zhang/Wildcard
– Quarter-Finals (bo7) –
Thursday, Dec 19th – From 2pm UTC
Mark Selby vs Mark Allen
Kyren Wilson vs Brecel/Zhang/Wildcard
Thursday, Dec 19th – From 7pm UTC
Judd Trump vs Mark Williams
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Murphy/Ding/Wildcard
– Semi-Finals (bo7) –
Friday, Dec 20th – From 2pm UTC
TBC vs TBC
TBC vs TBC
– Final (bo9) –
Friday, Dec 20th – 7pm UTC
TBC vs TBC
Featured photo credit: WST
