2024 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship

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2024 Riyadh Season
Snooker Championship
2024 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship logo.jpg
Tournament information
Dates18–20 December 2024 (2024-12-18 – 2024-12-20)
VenueGlobal Theatre
City Boulevard City, Riyadh
CountrySaudi Arabia
Organisation World Snooker Tour
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£785,000
Winner's share£250,000
Highest breakFlag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Ding Junhui  (CHN) (143)
Final
ChampionUlster Banner.svg  Mark Allen  (NIR)
Runner-upFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Luca Brecel  (BEL)
Score5–1
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The 2024 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 18 to 20 December 2024 at the Global Theatre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Organised by the World Snooker Tour, the tournament was part of the Riyadh Season festival in the city's entertainment district, Boulevard City. The event was broadcast worldwide by DAZN as well as other local broadcasters. The winner received £250,000 from a total prize fund of £785,000.

Contents

The event comprised 12 players: the top ten players in the snooker world rankings and two local wildcard players, Abdulraouf Saigh and Ahmed Aseeri. It featured a non-standard 20-point gold ball, the "Riyadh Season ball", that could be potted only after a player had completed a maximum break. The first player to pot the gold ball and extend a 147 break to 167 would win a special prize of USD$1,000,000.

Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion, having defeated Luca Brecel 5‍–‍2 in the previous final, [1] but he lost 2–4 to Mark Allen in the semi‑finals. Allen went on to win the tournament, defeating Brecel 5‍–‍1 in the final. [2] [3] No player achieved the 167 break; Zhang Anda came closest in his first-round match when he potted 12 reds with 12 blacks . [2] The tournament produced 14 century breaks, the highest being a 143 by Ding Junhui in the second round. [4]

Overview

The event took place from 18 to 20 December in the entertainment district Boulevard City within Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. [5] The event was first held as the 2024 World Masters of Snooker in March 2024 (as part of the preceding 2023–24 season) as the first professional snooker event ever held in Saudi Arabia.

Format

ColourValue
Snooker ball red.png Red 1 point
Snooker ball yellow.png Yellow 2 points
Snooker ball green.png Green 3 points
Snooker ball brown.png Brown 4 points
Snooker ball blue.png Blue 5 points
Snooker ball pink.png Pink 6 points
Snooker ball black.png Black 7 points
Gold circle.svg Riyadh Season ball20 points

All matches were played as the best of seven frames except the final, which was played as the best of nine frames. [5] The matches were played under regular snooker rules, but the event used a gold ball worth 20 points, called the "Riyadh Season ball". The gold ball was placed on the centre of the baulk cushion , in line with the brown , blue , pink , and black balls. It could only be potted after a player had completed a maximum break of 147, to extend the break to 167. Fouling the gold ball would award 4 penalty points to the opponent. The gold ball stayed on the table as long as it was possible for either player to complete a maximum break, then it was removed from the table until the next frame. [6] [7]

Participants

The event featured twelve players, including the top ten players on the snooker world rankings, with the defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan seeded first, the reigning World Champion Kyren Wilson seeded second, and the rest based on their rankings. It also featured two local wildcard players, Abdulraouf Saigh and Ahmed Aseeri from Saudi Arabia, who qualified by winning a local qualifying tournament. [5] [8]

Broadcasters

The tournament was broadcast worldwide by DAZN. It was also broadcast by the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, the CBSA‑WPBSA Academy Douyin and Huya Live in China; by Now TV in Hong Kong; by Astro SuperSport in Malaysia; by True Sports in Thailand; by TAP in the Philippines; by Sportcast in Taiwan; and by Sportstars and Vision+ in Indonesia. [9]

Prize money

The event featured a total prize pool of £785,000. An additional prize of $1,000,000 (about £787,000) would be given to the first player to compile a 167 break. [10] The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below: [11]

  • Winner: £250,000
  • Runner-up: £125,000
  • Semi-finals: £75,000
  • Quarter-finals: £50,000
  • Round 2: £25,000
  • Round 1: £5,000
  • 167 break: $1,000,000 (about £787,000) for first made

Tournament draw

Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players' seedings, and players in bold denote match winners. All matches were played as the best of seven frames except the final, which was played as the best of nine frames. [5] [12] [13]

Round 1
Best of 7 frames 		Round 2
Best of 7 frames 		Quarter-finals
Best of 7 frames 		Semi-finals
Best of 7 frames 		Final
Best of 9 frames
Flag of England.svg  Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG)(1)4
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Ding Junhui  (CHN)(9)0
Flag of England.svg  Shaun Murphy  (ENG)(8)0
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Ding Junhui  (CHN)(9)4 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Ding Junhui  (CHN)(9)4
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Abdulraouf Saigh (KSA)0 Flag of England.svg  Ronnie O'Sullivan  (ENG)(1)2
Ulster Banner.svg  Mark Allen  (NIR)(5)4
Flag of England.svg  Mark Selby  (ENG)(4)2
Ulster Banner.svg  Mark Allen  (NIR)(5)4
Ulster Banner.svg  Mark Allen  (NIR)(5)5
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Luca Brecel  (BEL)(7)1
Flag of England.svg  Judd Trump  (ENG)(3)3
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Mark Williams  (WAL)(6)4
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Mark Williams  (WAL)(6)2
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Zhang Anda  (CHN)(10)4 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Luca Brecel  (BEL)(7)4
Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg Ahmed Aseeri (KSA)0 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Luca Brecel  (BEL)(7)4
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  Zhang Anda  (CHN)(10)0
Flag of England.svg  Kyren Wilson  (ENG)(2)3
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Luca Brecel  (BEL)(7)4

Final

Final
Final: Best of 9 frames. Referee: Kevin Dabrowski
Global Theatre, Boulevard City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 20 December 2024
Mark Allen (5)
Ulster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland 		5–1 Luca Brecel (7)
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
Frame scores: 30‍–‍67, 104‍–‍49 (104), 80‍–‍1, 129‍–‍5 (109), 82‍–‍43, 63‍–‍36
(frame 4)109Highest break43 (frame 5) [a]
2Century breaks0

Notes

  1. ↑ The WST match centre confirms a high break of 43 for Luca Brecel. [14] The WST news article about the final confirms that the break was made in frame 5. [2]

Century breaks

A total of 14 century breaks were made in the tournament. [4]

References

  1. ↑ "Rocket rules in Riyadh". World Snooker Tour . 6 March 2024. Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 "Allen reigns in Riyadh". World Snooker Tour . 20 December 2024. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  3. ↑ "Allen beats O'Sullivan & Brecel to win Riyadh title". BBC Sport . 21 December 2024. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Centuries: Riyadh Season Snooker Championship – 14". snookerinfo.co.uk. 20 December 2024. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Riyadh Season Snooker Championship 2024". snooker.org. 21 December 2024. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  6. ↑ "Saudi Arabia to host new snooker event with added 20-point golden ball". Sky Sports . 19 January 2024. Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  7. ↑ "Saudi Arabia set to welcome first pro snooker event with ground breaking 167 prize". World Snooker Tour . 29 February 2024. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
  8. ↑ "Two local stars to join Riyadh Season Snooker Championship". World Snooker Tour . 17 December 2024. Archived from the original on 19 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  9. ↑ "DAZN to broadcast Riyadh Season Snooker Championship worldwide and for free". World Snooker Tour . 17 December 2024. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  10. ↑ Imber, Leon (19 December 2024). "$1m or $10m? What is a worthy prize for Riyadh's elusive 167 break? Judd Trump, Ronnie O'Sullivan discuss gold ball maxi". Eurosport . Archived from the original on 19 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  11. ↑ "Riyadh Season Snooker Championship". World Snooker Tour . Archived from the original on 9 December 2024. Retrieved 19 December 2024.
  12. ↑ "Riyadh Season Snooker Championship draw". World Snooker Tour . 8 December 2024. Archived from the original on 19 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  13. ↑ "Riyadh Season Snooker matches". World Snooker Tour . 20 December 2024. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.
  14. ↑ "WST Match Centre: Stats Match". World Snooker Tour . 20 December 2024. Archived from the original on 21 December 2024.
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