For many players, and fans, the 2024/25 season will start in earnest in two day, on Thursday 25 July 2024, with the 2024 Xian Grand Prix qualifiers. You know my opinion on having those qualifiers held in the UK but, for now at least, that’s the way it is. Anyway… with those events upon us, WST has made two announcements.
The first player to make 100 century breaks on the World Snooker Tour during the 2024/25 season will win a massive £100,000 bonus.
This new WST initiative gives all tour players the chance to chase the landmark of 100 tons in a single season.
This has only ever been achieved twice before – by Neil Robertson who made 103 centuries during the 2013/14 campaign, and Judd Trump who compiled 102 in 2019/20.
All events on the 2024/25 WST calendar count towards a player’s tally, and the first to reach 100 centuries will earn the bonus. If two (or more players) reach the 100 milestone having played the same number of frames in the same round of the same tournament, then the bonus will be shared.
WST Chairman Steve Dawson said: “We are delighted to introduce this new bonus as it creates an extra storyline which will run throughout the season. If a player is on target for the ‘century of centuries’ going into the last few events then the drama will build with every match!”
Trump tops the charts so far this season having made ten centuries in winning last week’s Shanghai Masters. Fans can keep track of which players are topping the centuries list here
Before I come to how I feel about the initiative … following the link above sends me to this:
WTF is this ??? Why on earth do fans need to sign in to a site to see such information ???
Anyway… of course, fans love big breaks and centuries, so encouraging the players to go for them makes some sense BUT this is a professional sport and you would expect players to try to win above anything else. Hum?
TOP 144 SNOOKER PLAYERS TO STAR IN THE FIRST SAUDI ARABIA SNOOKER MASTERS
144 of the best snooker players are set to compete in the inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters in Green Halls, Riyadh from August 30th – September 7th.
The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, a world ranking event, will feature a mammoth prize pool of over £2 million. This tournament is part of an exciting legacy commitment with the Ministry of Sport for Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Arabian Billiard & Snooker Federation, aiming to develop snooker and pool in the region over next decade.
The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters will be open to all 128 tour players, plus 16 wild card players selected by the Saudi Arabian Billiard & Snooker Federation, to create the total field of 144 players.
Stars names including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Allen, John Higgins, Mark Selby, World Champion Kyren Wilson and the rest of the world’s top 32, as well as leading women players Reanne Evans, Mink Nutcharut, Bai Yulu and Baipat Siripaporn will be in the line-up for the first ever ranking event staged in Saudi Arabia.
The event will start on Friday August 30th, with the thrilling final set for Saturday September 7th. Further details on ticket information will be announced soon.
They will compete in the same format as the Snooker World Championship:
Round one: Seeds 81-112 v seeds 113-144 (August 30th) Round two: Those 32 winners v seeds 49 -80 (August 31st) Round three: Those 32 winners v seeds 17-48 (September 1st) Round four: Those 32 winners play each other (September 2nd) Round five: Those 16 winners v seeds 1-16 in the last 32 (September 3rd)
Reigning Snooker World Champion, Kyren Wilson will be among the elite players heading to Riyadh: “This is an incredibly exciting time for the World Snooker Tour. I am looking forward to competing in this new ranking event and aiming for the top spot in Riyadh.” Wilson said.
Saudi Arabia Billiards & Snooker Federation President, Dr Nasser Saab Al-Shammari, added: “History will be written once more for snooker in Saudi Arabia, and we could not be more thrilled. Seeing world class talents from across the globe compete here will be truly special, offering both the players and fans an unforgettable experience.”
WST Chairman, Steve Dawson said: “Given the magnitude of this outstanding new event, in working with our partners in Saudi Arabia we felt it was crucial to have all 144 players in Riyadh. This will be the only one of snooker’s four majors with such an extensive field competing in the final stages.
“Fans in the region will have the opportunity to watch a diverse range of players, from up-and-coming rookies and local wild cards to the top 16 seeds. It promises to be a fantastic celebration of snooker, and for all of the players, it’s an amazing opportunity to visit the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, enjoy the culture and meet the fans.
“This is a huge ten-year partnership which will focus on developing participation in snooker at all levels, so to have such a wide array of talented players in Riyadh for this incredible new tournament is an important focal point for that journey. We look forward to working with our partners on the inaugural event.”
The major ten-year deal for this event also includes the World Pool Championship – the crown jewel of the World Nineball Tour – which was recently staged in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and won by Fedor Gorst, who defeated Eklent Kaci 15-14 in an epic final.
As part of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has emerged as a premier destination for some of the biggest global sports events, embracing both male and female athletes. From football and motorsports to tennis, equestrian, and esports, Saudi Arabia has welcomed over 2.6 million enthusiastic sports fans to witness these world-class competitions.
The title of this piece is a bit baffling as there is no snooker ranking list outside the one WST “offers”, and that list, based on earnings in professional events, shouldn’t really take amateurs into account and doesn’t comprise 144 players anyway at this stage of the season!1 OK, so, the field will be made of all the pros who will enter the event plus amateurs, including 16 wildcards chosen by the Saudis.
The good thing is that it has a tiered structure and all matches will be played at the venue. No qualifiers in the UK for this one. All players welcome in Saudi Arabia!2 The less good thing is that given the schedule it can only be a very short format unless the venue can accommodate a huge number of tables. How many, if any, will be televised or streamed, and via what channel(s) isn’t known yet.
Unless they use a secret ELO ranking list … but I’m dreaming… ↩︎
Just as well probably that there are currently no Israēli players on tour … ↩︎
As for the £100k bonus, the best strategy to aim for that would be to play in the Spring Championship League and lose as many groups as possible. It’s the kind of perverse incentive that these bonuses often lead to.
Of course, this route would only be available to players who actually get invited to the Spring Championship League, which is loosely based on ranking but there isn’t a formal ‘qualification’.
Yes there are many issues with that initiative. The invitational events are one aspect. The Masters, with its field based on the two year list is another. All events with a tiered structure – which BTW I support – are yet another as players have to play a different number of matches depending on their seeding and the World Quals, with its longer matches are even more of a (potential) issue.
Well, ‘Top 144’ is only inaccurate as it includes the 16 wildcard players, who by definition are ‘selected’, although there may be some preliminary competition to help determine them. Of course, there are hardly ever exactly 128 ‘professional’ players, and in any case there would be players missing. In that case the ‘seeding’ defaults to the Q School top-up list, a well-established protocol. So the headline is not unreasonable.
The critical details are now the lengths of matches, and the prizemoney. Certainly, the players need to know how much first-round losers will be paid, because it will be expensive to travel to Riyadh, with the costs and inconvenience of VISA applications. Players travelling to China in the next few weeks can’t just hand over their passports for a Saudi VISA application.
I was half-joking about the headline … “half” because I’m far from convinced that the current process(es) allowing players to earn a tour card are optimal although there have been improvements in recent years.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
As for the £100k bonus, the best strategy to aim for that would be to play in the Spring Championship League and lose as many groups as possible. It’s the kind of perverse incentive that these bonuses often lead to.
Of course, this route would only be available to players who actually get invited to the Spring Championship League, which is loosely based on ranking but there isn’t a formal ‘qualification’.
Yes there are many issues with that initiative. The invitational events are one aspect. The Masters, with its field based on the two year list is another. All events with a tiered structure – which BTW I support – are yet another as players have to play a different number of matches depending on their seeding and the World Quals, with its longer matches are even more of a (potential) issue.
Well, ‘Top 144’ is only inaccurate as it includes the 16 wildcard players, who by definition are ‘selected’, although there may be some preliminary competition to help determine them. Of course, there are hardly ever exactly 128 ‘professional’ players, and in any case there would be players missing. In that case the ‘seeding’ defaults to the Q School top-up list, a well-established protocol. So the headline is not unreasonable.
The critical details are now the lengths of matches, and the prizemoney. Certainly, the players need to know how much first-round losers will be paid, because it will be expensive to travel to Riyadh, with the costs and inconvenience of VISA applications. Players travelling to China in the next few weeks can’t just hand over their passports for a Saudi VISA application.
I was half-joking about the headline … “half” because I’m far from convinced that the current process(es) allowing players to earn a tour card are optimal although there have been improvements in recent years.