Created on 07.03
The Snooker Saudi Masters tournament is being discontinued.
The World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA) and its World Snooker Tour (WST) issued a statement on April 25th, during the period when the 2026 Snooker World Championship will take place, stating that the Saudi Masters tournament, as well as the World Billiards/9-Ball Championship, would no longer be held. The original contract for organizing the Saudi Masters tournament was valid for 10 years. The discontinuation of these two tournaments, especially that of the Saudi Masters, represents a significant setback for the WPBSA’s efforts to promote snooker events in the Middle East over the past few years. Turkey had hosted one edition of the Turkish Masters tournament in 2022, but that event also came to an end without success.
Image: On August 16, 2025, Neil Robertson defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan 10-9 in the final of the 2nd Saudi Masters. O’Sullivan had managed to score two 147s in the semifinals of that tournament (in the first and seventh frames); the event was held in Jeddah.
Founded by Barry Hearn in 1982, Matchroom Company took the lead in organizing WST events; in February and March 2024 it successfully held the first WST professional tournament in Saudi Arabia, namely the “Golden Ball 167” invitational tournament. At the end of August and beginning of September of the same year, WST organized the first ranking event, the SaudiMasters (held from August 31st to September 1st), with Trump winning the championship. The total prize money for this tournament was £2,302,000, making it second only to the World Championship in terms of prize money, and it was designated by WST as the “fourth major tournament”.
Image: From February to March 2024, Hearn, along with his son Eddie (far left in the front row) and seven-time World Championship winner Robertson, attended event signing ceremonies in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Robert son currently serves as the "snooker ambassador" for the "Riyadh Season".
With the end of the ranking event, the Saudi Masters, it will become increasingly difficult for players to improve their rankings in the future. Trump, who is currently ranked first in the world, and Neil Robertson, ranked third, were the champions of the first and second editions of the Saudi Masters respectively. Shi Jiahui, ranked 15th, Willett, ranked 13th, and Elliot Slessor, ranked 21st, all made it to the top four in the Saudi Masters last year and this year, earning prize money and ranking points worth up to 100,000 pounds each. Additionally, with the discontinuation of the Saudi Masters, the rule that awards 147 points for achieving such a score in the four major events is likely to be changed in the new 26/27 season: players who manage to score 147 points in any two of these four events during a single season will receive an additional reward of 147,000 pounds.
Image: Trump narrowly defeated Mark Williams 10-9 in the final of the first Saudi Masters.
However, there are reasons to believe that this cancellation represents the "most logical outcome" resulting from an agreement between WST and Saudi Arabia; as a result, neither party will have to pay any penalty fees. Given the precarious situation in the Middle East due to ongoing wars, WST will not allow any players to go to such a dangerous and uncertain environment to participate in any competitions. For the players, the good news is undoubtedly the resumption of the China Open. The 2026 China Open will be held from August 8th to 16th in Taiyuan, Shanxi, with a total prize fund of 1.2 million pounds. The date of this China Open coincides exactly with the date of the 2025 Saudi Masters.
Image: On November 21, 2025, Zhao Xintong won the championship of the "Riyadh Snooker Tournament" (the "Golden Ball 167" invitation tournament). He defeated Neil Robertson 5-2 in the final. The winners of the first two editions of this tournament were Mark Allen (5-1 against Brecher) and Ronnie O’Sullivan (5-2 against Brecher). The total prize money for this tournament is 785,000 pounds, in addition to a so-called “Golden Ball 167” bonus of 1 million dollars; however, this bonus was not awarded in those three editions. It is not yet clear whether this
tournament will be held again in the 2026/27 season.
The cancellation of the “Saudi Masters” is certainly not good news for O’Sullivan, who has a snooker academy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In October 2024, he opened his second snooker academy there, after one in Singapore. With the cancellation of these two tournaments (the Saudi Masters and the World Billiards/9-Ball Championship), it is likely that young players in Saudi Arabia will be less enthusiastic about learning snooker. In other words, O’Sullivan’s business interests in that region could also be negatively affected, as he has focused his snooker activities in the Middle East and China in recent years.
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