Saudi Arabia Masters sees elite snooker hit golden jackpot in Middle East after 16-year absence

The inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters (live on Eurosport and discovery+) marks the return of a major ranking event to the Middle East region for the first time since the 2008 Bahrain Championship.

Australia’s Neil Robertson was the winner in capital city Manama as he completed a 9-7 final win over two-time Crucible finalist Matthew Stevens two years before he progressed to claim his solitary world title in Sheffield.

The tournament was blighted by several late call-offs due to medical reasons with Ronnie O’Sullivan and Steve Davis both withdrawing, but the event did witness a 147 with Marcus Campbell of Scotland – a player once dubbed the ‘Dumbarton Destroyer’ – producing a 147 break, the 66th competitive maximum of 202 compiled in professional snooker since Davis recorded the landmark first in 1982.

Robertson collected a £48,000 winner’s cheque for his victory in Bahrain with Stevens earning £22,500 for his run to the final.

“I am absolutely over the moon,” said the 26-year-old Robertson, who suddenly viewed a world of possibilities.

“When it gets to the final, great champions rise to the occasion. You see it with people like Roger Federer and Michael Jordan. I’ve won three out of three finals now, and I don’t want to know what it’s like to lose one.

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“I have really enjoyed coming to Bahrain, and to win the first tournament here is a real privilege. Hopefully, this can be the start of something to build on.”

It has taken 16 years for snooker to fix the foundations in the region, but it is fair to say it will be a bit different in Saudi Arabia over the next nine days with the champion earning a whopping £500,000 first prize – the biggest amount in the modern history of the sport beyond the World Championship – and the runner-up a vast £200,000.

With the struggle for proper funding for many tournaments, particularly when Robertson won in Bahrain and there were only eight ranking events on the calendar, the rewards on offer for players who struggled for years to make a decent living on tour, this golden competition has been well over a decade in the making.

Suddenly, like footballers, golfers and boxers, sport in Saudi Arabia is rewarding snooker players handsomely for outstanding success on the baize. Opportunity knocks when the balls start rolling in Saudi.

The United Arab Emirates had previously hosted a ranking event in the form of the Dubai Classic for six years with Neal Foulds winning the first non-ranking edition of the event with a 5-4 win over Davis in 1988 before Stephen Hendry triumphed three times in 1989, 1990 and 1993, including two final wins over Davis.

Alan McManus was the last player to lift the title in Dubai courtesy of a 9-6 victory over Peter Ebdon that saw the Scotsman earn £40,000 in 1994.

From the 32 players that contested the Dubai competition 30 years ago, snooker thoroughbreds O’Sullivan, John Higgins, Dominic Dale, Ken Doherty, Jimmy White and Graeme Dott will all return to compete in Riyadh.

It was a tournament that also witnessed an early meeting between ‘Class of ’92’ teenage duo O’Sullivan and Higgins in the second round with O’Sullivan winning 5-1 before he lost 6-4 to Ebdon in the semi-finals.

Of course, O’Sullivan claimed a £250,000 winner’s cheque for winning prestigious invitational event the Saudi World Masters in Riyadh with a 5-2 success against Luca Brecel in March, but first prize a week on Saturday could catapult him back to the top of the world rankings amid a frantic quest for supremacy.

Yet a jackpot victory in Riyadh for any of the other 143 players on the starting grid will not only be significant. It will also be life-changing.