John Higgins described the announcement of the new Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters as “fabulous news” for the sport, as players across the tour welcomed this breakthrough.
The new ranking event was unveiled on Tuesday, as part of a ten-year agreement with the Ministry of Sport for Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Arabian Billiard & Snooker Federation. Running from August 31st-September 7th in Riyadh, event will have total prize money of £2 million, the second biggest purse after the World Championship.
“It’s fabulous news. I could understand some of the lower ranked players worrying when the invitation event (the new Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker) was announced, just for the top eight. But this is what we need to grow the game and make it bigger. The money is incredible. Everybody will be delighted with this."
John Higgins
Four-time World Champion
Higgins added: "If you introduce that sort of prize fund to the tour, we will be looking at it on a par with the World Championship. As a snooker player it’s all about maximising your earning potential. Everyone will be gunning for that top prize. One of my first tournaments away was in Dubai in 1994. At that time we thought snooker would get big in the Middle East. It has been a long time since then. But hopefully now it’s here to stay because this deal is for ten years. I’ll have to keep playing until I’m nearly 60 to enjoy it!”
The event will be open to all 128 tour players and world number 50 Elliot Slessor said: “A couple of seasons ago, it was looking like half the tournaments were invitational, just for the top players. So it’s great to have a new ranking event for the whole tour, and the money is astronomical. I’m a boxing fan and I have seen the big boxing events in Saudi, it’s looks a great place and I would love to go.”
Former World Champion Neil Robertson said: “The way to get the game growing worldwide is to stage big events and create that local interest. There are a lot more overseas players now than there were when I joined the tour. This keeps our momentum going to become a global sport. It’s important to support all the players and give them fair earning opportunities. It’s really good that this event has been added to the calendar.”
Experienced pro Joe Perry said: “It’s great for the whole tour. Saudi Arabia is a major area for many sports now and hopefully snooker can grow and stay there for many years. I have seen a lot of the world as a snooker player so I’ll really look forward to seeing somewhere new.”
Four-time Crucible king Mark Selby added: “It’s fantastic, it’s great to be going to a new part of the world and to have the chance to grow snooker in Saudi. We’ve got the invitation event there next month so we’ll get a taste of what is to come, and then we’ll be looking forward to the ranking event.”