Saudi Arabian snooker stars Ahmed Aseeri and Abdulraouf Saigh have won wild card places at next week’s Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, where they will line up against the world’s top ten players.
Aseeri and Saigh were the winners of a qualifying tournament held at the Ronnie O’Sullivan Snooker Academy in Riyadh last week. They have earned the chance to compete in the invitation tournament which runs from December 18th to 20th at the Global Theatre in Boulevard City.
Competing for the trophy are the best ten players on the planet, including defending champion O’Sullivan, world number one Judd Trump and World Champion Kyren Wilson, bringing another exciting event to the Riyadh Season roster of activity and giving local fans another opportunity to enjoy the sport of snooker which is growing fast in Saudi Arabia.
Ding Junhui will face Saigh and then Zhang Anda will meet Aseeri in the first round on the opening afternoon on Wednesday 18th. Then the same evening, the winners of those two matches will face seeds seven and eight, Luca Brecel and Shaun Murphy.
All four quarter-finals will take place on Thursday 19th, starting with Mark Selby v Mark Allen, then Kyren Wilson will meet either Zhang, Brecel or a wild card. Judd Trump will be up against Mark Williams in a repeat of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters final, then defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will play either Ding, Murphy or a wild card. The semi-finals and final will take place on Friday 20th.
All matches are best of seven frames, until the final which is best of nine.
The tournament was staged for the first time in March 2024 following a historic agreement between His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority (GEA),and the World Snooker Tour.
Once again the tournament will include a unique Gold Ball, which is worth 20 points and can only be potted at the end of a maximum 147, creating the possibility for a player to score a break of 167 which would be the highest in the history of snooker.
About Riyadh Season
Saudi Arabia's capital embraces one of the world's biggest entertainment events every year during winter. Since the launch of the Riyadh Season in 2019, the festival has welcomed visitors from all over the world to experience thousands of concerts, sporting activities, and other unique cultural events.
