Yesterday WST announced that the tickets for the 2024 Saudi Snooker Masters went on sale. In the same article they also give a bit more details about the event itself.
…
Snooker’s all-time greatest player Ronnie O’Sullivan will be competing for the trophy, alongside world number one Mark Allen, World Champion Kyren Wilson, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, John Higgins and many more of snooker’s biggest stars. In total there will be 144 players in the draw, including 17 wild cards from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
The event is part of an exciting legacy commitment with the Ministry of Sport and the Saudi Arabian Billiard & Snooker Federation, aiming to develop snooker and pool in the region over next decade.
Saudi Arabia Billiards & Snooker Federation President, Dr Nasser Saab Al-Shammari, said “The Kingdom is a destination for hosting the world’s biggest international sports events. We are thrilled to host a tournament of this stature in the sport, which is attended by many international stars, whose participation will contribute to the exchange of experiences between the participating players, entertain audiences around the world, and develop Saudi talent in the game of snooker.”
Steve Dawson, Chairman of WST, said: “We are thrilled to bring a world ranking event to Saudi Arabia for the first time, and this is a massive event for the players with the biggest prize money for any tournament other than the World Championship. The all-time greats will be determined to go all the way to the trophy.
“For fans in the region who have not watched snooker live before, it is an incredible experience. The skills of the best players cannot be matched in any other sport, and the drama of snooker always creates an intense atmosphere. This event is not to be missed for anyone who loves sport.
“Working alongside our partners we will ensure a fantastic experience for the fans at the venue. Book tickets fast and enjoy the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters!”
Former World Champion Shaun Murphy, who reached the final of the recent Shanghai Masters, said: “I am thrilled that we now have a ranking event in Riyadh for the whole tour. I am fully behind it and looking forward to being a part of it. Hopefully the success of these events will bring in other countries and help snooker to grow throughout the Middle East.“
The tournament gets underway on Friday August 30th. The world’s top 16 players will be in action from Tuesday September 3rd, with the thrilling final set for Saturday September 7th.
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) …
Michael Day on his Totally Snookered blog gives us some more details, notably regarding the format.
….
It had already been announced in recent weeks that the tournament will field 144 players (all professional players are eligible) and that all competitors will play at the main venue in Riyadh. There will be no ‘qualifying’ or opening rounds played elsewhere.
Eight tables will be used during the opening five days of the tournament, with a round completed on each of these days.
This goes down to four tables in operation for the last 16, two tables for the quarter-finals, and a one-table set-up will be used from the semi-finals on September 6.
Rounds 1 to 3: Best of 7 frames
Rounds 4 & 5:Best of 9 frames
Last 16 to semi-finals: Best of 11 frames
Who is playing at the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters?
The entry list and draw for the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters has yet to be released, although it has been confirmed that the sport’s biggest names are all set to be there. This includes seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan – winner of the aforementioned Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker back in March.
World Champion Kyren Wilson, world number one Mark Allen, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams and John Higgins are all scheduled to be in the Middle East for the event which is expected to have a £500,000 first prize.
A total of 17 wildcards as selected by the Saudi Arabian Billiard & Snooker Federation are set to be in the draw.
Six Champions Crowned at Shanghai Disability Snooker Invitational
Six champions from three different nations won titles at the second staging of the WDBS Shanghai Disability Snooker Invitational in Shanghai, China last weekend.
A combination of cueists from China and international invitees made up a field of 31 players who competed across six classification groups at the two-day event.
The tournament was preceded by a special welcome banquet at the Steel Convention & Expo Centre where the event was formally opened by Miss Xue Sasa, Vice Governor of the Baoshan District, alongside key officials from the Shanghai and Baoshan District government and the Shanghai Billiards and Snooker Association.
Among those in attendance at the formal opening of the event were WPBSA Chairman Jason Ferguson, who delivered a keynote speech, as well as former world champions Stephen Hendry and John Higgins.
On the baize, it was Thailand who saw the most success as their cueists picked up the gold medal in three of the six competitions held across the weekend.
There was success for a duo of 2023 World Abilitysport Games bronze medalists in Group’s 1 and 2 as Numpol Thongpusawan and Surasit Loisaratrakul overcame Gary Swift and Tony Southern to secure the title and gain revenge on the Englishmen, who had both defeated them in the semi-finals of the Games back in December.
Boonmark Voranipit made it a hat-trick of gold medals for Thailand by defeating England’s David Church 2-0 in the final of Group 4 – bouncing back from defeat to Church in the initial group phase to earn the title.
Poland’s Adam Wilk picked up the sole gold medal for a European cueist as he beat Hong Kong China’s Andy Lam in a tense deciding frame of the Group 3 final, while there were titles from two Chinese players as Lu Yun and Yang Junhui defeated fellow countrymen Xue Wen and Mo Quanhu on home soil to win the gold in Group’s 5 and 6.
WDBS would like to thank the Shanghai Disabled Persons’ Federation, Baoshan District, Shanghai Sports Federation, Shanghai Billiards Association, Baoshan Disabled Persons’ Federation, Baoshan Sports Association, Guizhou Weboo Sports Co., Ltd, Lushan Hengkang Slate Co., Ltd and all the co-organisers for their support with the 2nd Shanghai Disability Invitational.
Make sure you have a look at the gallery, and, if some day you have the opportunity to attend one of those WDBS events, please do. You won’t regret it. Those gals and guys are amazing and so is the creativity they show in seeking and finding solutions and implements that help them overcome their disabilities.
Champions were crowned across four classification groups last weekend as the new WDBS season got underway with the second edition of the German Open in Rüsselsheim, Germany.
A total of 21 players competed in the event at SC Breakers in Rüsselsheim, including a record five German cueists, as three reigning champions defended their crowns while there was a first time winner of the German Open in the merged Group 6-8 competition.
On the Saturday morning, WDBS was delighted to welcome special guests Rouven Czylok (President of Billiardsport in Hessen), Annette Tettenborn (Rüsselsheim Head of Sports and Exercise) and Patrick Burghardt (Mayor of Rüsselsheim) to the WDBS German Open.
Germany’s Hannes Hermsdorf dropped just a single frame across seven matches as he claimed the Group 3 title on home soil for the second consecutive year.
Six competitors entered the Group 3 competition as the world’s top three (Kal Mattu, Joe Hardstaff and Kit Kennedy) were joined by group debutant Peter Hull as well as Hermsdorf and 89-year-old Cezar Pereira Vaz from the host nation.
Both Hermsdorf and Hull made impressive starts to the season with four straight victories to secure qualification for the knockout stages, before the German player overcame his English opponent 2-0 in their final group stage match to take top spot.
On the final day, Hermsdorf whitewashed Hardstaff to book his place in the final where he would once again face Hull after the Englishman battled past world number one Mattu 3-1 in the last four.
The 31-year-old German moved within one of the title by taking the first two frames of the best-of-five contest. Hull wasn’t going down without a fight, however, and took the third on a respotted black to reduce the deficit.
Ultimately, however, Hermsdorf was too strong on the table as he won the fourth frame by a 59-15 scoreline to win the German Open title for the second time.
David Church defeated Nigel Brasier 5-2 in the Group 4 final in Rüsselsheim to defend the title he won last year.
For Church, who recently travelled to China to compete in the Shanghai Disability Snooker Invitational, it marked a first ranking event title since last year’s German Open as the world number three dominated the group.
A trio of whitewash victories over Steve Cartwright, Andy Johnson and Brasier in the initial group phase, which also saw him make the weekend’s overall highest break of 63, meant Church booked his place in the title match.
There, he would meet Brasier, who had earned his place in a second consecutive ranking event final with impressive 3-0 wins over Johnson and Cartwright.
Despite losing 3-0 to Church on the previous day, Brasier made a strong start to the best-of-nine frame final as he moved into a 2-1 lead.
Church was able to take the fourth to restore parity heading into the mid-session interval before finding his form at the perfect time after the break to win three consecutive frames and complete the defence of his German Open title.
Dave Bolton won his seventh WDBS title but was forced to battle to defend his German Open crown in Rüsselsheim.
Bolton, world number two Dalton Lawrence and Belgian Open finalist Dave Waller were joined in Group 5 by German WDBS debutants Christian Hirth and Michael Becher.
The two home nation cueists made dream starts to life on the WDBS tour with victories over Waller and Lawrence respectively and both were able to secure their place in the semi-finals at their maiden event.
Hirth impressively topped the group stage with one of the surprise results of the weekend as he inflicted only a second ever defeat in a WDBS ranking event on Group 5’s top ranked player Bolton.
After losing the first frame of a semi-final contest against Becher, Bolton found his form and fired in breaks of 51, 44, 40 and 33 to complete a 3-1 victory and book his place in the final.
There, he looked certain to face a rematch against Hirth as the German moved into a 2-0 lead over Lawrence in their last four. However, the English two-time ranking event winner battled back to force a decider before taking the match on the final ball.
Lawrence’s battling qualities continued to show in the title match as, despite breaks of 42 and 30 from Bolton, he was able share the first four frames and force another match to a decider.
This time, however, Bolton proved too strong when it mattered as he took the decider by a scoreline of 73-23 to successfully defend his German Open crown.
Mike Gillespie defeated Ronnie Allen 3-0 in the Group 6-8 final to win the German Open for the first time in his career.
Due to entry numbers, the Group 6, 7 and 8 classification groups were combined into a single event of six cueists and it was two competitors from the visual Group 7 that reached the title match.
Group 7’s world number one Gillespie and 80-year-old Welshman Allen were the dominant players in the initial group phase, both earning whitewash victories in four matches before Gillespie overcame his Welsh opponent in their group stage meeting.
Group 6B cueists Oliver Hanson and Lee Hague completed the semi-final line-up but Gillespie and Allen proved too strong in Sunday’s knockout stages as they set up a final meeting with 3-0 and 3-1 victories respectively.
The 63-year-old Englishman continued his fine form when it mattered most as he impressively secured a 3-0 victory in the final to win the German Open title without dropping a single frame across the weekend.
Dave Waller bounced back from a disappointing start to the weekend to claim Challenge Cup glory at the German Open.
The Challenge Cup event sees competitors who do not qualify for Sunday’s knockout stages compete for the title and Group 5’s Waller overcame Kit Kennedy and German debutant Dominik Dobrowolski to reach the final.
There, he would face Blake Munton from Group 8 after the 28-year-old Englishman defeated Steve Cartwright 2-1 in the semi-finals.
The hard fought best-of-three frame final went all the way but it was Waller who won the deciding frame to win his first title on the WDBS tour.
WDBS would like to thank everyone at SC Breakers and all the players, referees and officials who helped to make the 2024 German Open a success.
The tour continues next month with The Cube UK Disability Championship at Barratts in Northampton. Enter now.
Calabrese arrived as the man in form having won the previous Q Tour event and finishing top of the series ranking list in the previous season.
He began his tournament with a 3-0 victory over Paul Balzer before showing stunning form to defeat Robin Beggs 3-0 with back-to-back century breaks of 106 and 102.
The Australian cueist was forced to battle through two deciding frames against Ian Barber and Paul Norris to reach the semi-finals and then overcame Chi Kin Yueng with a whitewash win to book his place in the title match.
There he would face Kerde, who had beaten Justin Sajich, Gary Nunn, Shaun Dalitz, Xavier Daw and finally Steve Mifsud in a deciding frame to set up a meeting with Calabrese.
Breaks of 78 and 56 helped Calabrese storm into a 3-0 lead and move one frame away from the title, but Kerde battled back to take the next two and reduce his deficit to just a single frame.
It was too little too late for Kerde, however, as Calabrese was able to get over the line in the sixth frame and secure more Q Tour glory.
The WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific series continues in September with Event 3 in Auckland, New Zealand.
Yesterday was the last day of the 2024 British Open “qualifiers”, aka round 1 matches not played at the main venue. Once again the report by WST is incomplete and largely UK centric. The matches played in the late afternoon and evening are not reported on at all. Unprofessional and lazy.
Englishman Oliver Lines produced a battling display to beat China’s Lei Peifan 4-3 and secure his place in the final stages of the Unibet British Open.
World number 108 Lines remained on tour by the skin of his teeth at the end of last season, retaining his place thanks to his performance in the one year list. The two-time ranking event quarter-finalist started well today, with breaks of 116 and 94 on his way to establishing a 2-1 lead.
However, Lei hit back to hit the front himself at 3-2. Lines held his nerve and claimed the last two and emerge a deciding frame victor.
David Gilbert continued a strong start to his season with a 4-0 win over Dylan Emery. Tamworth’s Gilbert made the semi-finals of last season’s World Championship and he has continued where he left off, having already been on a run to the final group of the Championship League and qualified for the Xi’an Grand Prix. He crafted runs of 85 and 72 in today’s win.
There were two Chinese victories against Scottish counterparts. Lyu Haotian was a 4-0 winner against Anthony McGill, while Tian Pengfei defeated Scott Donaldson 4-2.
So? Here is what happened after WST’s writer called it a day, or even before but they couldn’t be bothered to report on it
Cheung Ka Wai beat Kreishh Gurbaxani by 4-0 in the first match to finish yesterday. They are both rookies but Cheung is showing real quality early in the season. He has “qualified” for the 2024 Wuhan Open and the 2024 British Open. He will not be in Xi’an as he lost his qualifying match against Ryan Day but that match went to a decider and Cheung had three centuries. Also, in the ranking CLS his only defeat came at the hands of Neil Robertson.
Wu Yize beat Baipat by 4-1. Baipat managed to win the first frame on the final black but after that Wu controlled the match and dominated. He finished the job with a beautiful 111.
David Gilbert whitewashed Dylan Emery. The most points Dylan scored in a frame was 17. Pretty brutal but not a big surprise by any means.
Graeme Dott beat Matthew Stevens by 4-1. The match was closer than the score suggests but Matthew didn’t “score” enough when in.
Haris Tahir beat Dean Young by 4-3. This was a very close match, not just the final score, but every frame was close and hard fought. Haris is a rookie. He came through the Asia/Pacific Q-School … and is undefeated so far on the main tour.
Robbie Williams beat Jackson Page by 4-1. Jackson won the first frame with a break of 62, the highest of the match, but after that Robbie controlled and dominated. Robbie had breaks of 57 and 61.
Elliot Slessor beat Joshua Cooper by 4-1, finishing with breaks of 98 and 64. Joshua is an amateur and replaced Sam Craigie.
Ben Mertens beat Zak Surety by 4-1, a one sided outcome but actually most frames were very close. Ben had breaks of 54 and 66.
We now have no “main tour” snooker until August 19…
Here is WST report on the third day at the 2024 British Open qualifiers:
BATTLING BINGHAM THROUGH TO CHELTENHAM
Stuart Bingham earned a place in the final stages of the Unibet British Open with a hard fought 4-3 win over He Guoqiang at qualifying in Leicester.
2015 Crucible king Bingham came into the match off the back of a surprise 5-1 defeat to Xing Zihao in Wuhan Open qualifying. Despite being 3-0 ahead, he was under threat again today when a stirring fightback from last season’s Rookie of the Year He restored parity at 3-3. However, a crucial break of 61 from Bingham in the decider saw him through.
Malaysia’s Kok Leong Lim scored an impressive 4-1 win over former German Masters champion Anthony Hamilton. Kok crafted breaks of 50 and 51 on his way to scoring a first victory as a professional. He gained a place on the World Snooker Tour with success at Asia/Oceania Q School.
Hong Kong’s three-time ranking event winner Marco Fu defeated Josh Thomond 4-1, while Stan Moody beat Joe O’Connor 4-2.
And, of course, as usual, a lot of matches are not reported on. Amongst others …
Notably none of the matches won by a mainland China player feature in the above report. Xiao Guodong beat Huang Jiahao by 4-2, Yuan Sijun defeated Jamie Jones by 4-2 and Long Zehuang whitewashed Liam Pullen. The Yuan Sijun v Jamie Jones match was actually a close one. Jamie Jones scored the only century of the match, a 102, but I’m certain he would happily trade it for the win!
Also missing is Hammad Miah 4-2 win over Wang Yuchen. Wang was often first in in this match but missed a few and Miah punished those mistakes.
Alfie Burden beat Andrew Higginson by 4-2. Andrew was 2-0 up, with breaks of 52 and 72, but it was all Alfie after that. For me, Alfie is one of the big underachievers on tour.
Antoni Kowalski beat Daniel Wells by 4-1. The 20 years old rookie from Poland has only lost one match so far on the main tour … 5-2 to Judd Trump in the Xi’an Grand Prix qualifiers.
Sunny Akani whitewashed Daniel Womersley. Sunny’s potting was quite reliable in this match.
And finally … Ben Woollaston got the better of Matthew Selt. He beat him by 4-3. Matt Selt made the highest break of the match, a 81, but Ben Woollaston had a break over 60 in each of the frames he won.
The last 12 matches of those qualifiers will be played today and Discovery+/HBOMax are now showing all matches it seems.
Australia’s Neil Robertson extended his undefeated start to the campaign with a 4-1 win over Welshman Andrew Pagett at Unibet British Open qualifying in Leicester.
Former World Champion Robertson is in need of a strong season after enduring a torrid time last term, which saw him slump to 27th in the world rankings. However, having already qualified for the final stages of the Wuhan Open and the Xi’an Grand Prix, it has been a successful week for the 23-time ranking event winner. He top scored with a run of 62 in today’s victory, which sees him seal a spot in Cheltenham for the final stages in September.
Scotland’s returning professional Chris Totten scored a fine 4-0 win over the legendary Jimmy White. Totten crafted breaks of 63, 64, 86 and 87 en route to victory.
China’s Zhou Yuelong beat compatriot and former European Masters winner Fan Zhengyi 4-2, while Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei beat Mostafa Dorgham 4-1.
Once again only four matches reported on although twelve were actually played.
The match of the first session was certainly the one opposing Ricky Walden and Liu Hongyu. It was good snooker and incredibly tense. Both of them gave it absolutely everything they had. Also worth a mention is Xu Si’s 4-2 win over Ken Doherty. Ken had breaks of 60 and 63 in the frames he won, but Xu Si was the heaviest scorer with breaks of 120 and 97.
Mark Joyce, now an amateur, replaced Stuart Carrigton and made the most of it: he beat Xing Zihao in another hard fought match that went to a deciding frame. Mark Joyce is never easy to play against, and, in my opinion, not very easy on the eye either but he’s not out there to be pretty, he’s out there to try to win.
Anton Kazakov from Ukraine replaced Martin Gould and he too made the most of the opportunity. He beat Ahmed Aly Elsayed by 4-3 … at nearly 1 am this morning.
The other matches yesterday were pretty one-sided.
Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh took under an hour to blitz his way to a 4-1 win over Switzerland’s Alexander Ursenbacher at Unibet British Open qualifying in Leicester.
The quickfire cueman averaged just 16 seconds a shot, as he fired in runs of 54, 88, 63 and 80 en route to victory and a place in the final stages in Cheltenham.
World number 61 David Grace scored a surprise 4-2 win over Jack Lisowski to deny the Gloucestershire potter a spot in his home event. Yorkshireman Grace top scored with 101 and added a further two half centuries during the win.
Returning professional Michael Holt scored a 4-0 whitewash win over 12-time Women’s World Champion Reanne Evans, while former Crucible semi-finalist Si Jiahui beat 2021 World Seniors Champion David Lilley 4-2.
Theppy played very well indeed, as did David Grace who had three breaks over 50, including a 101, in beating Jack Lisowski. Jack simply makes too many mistakes and, because he plays such an open game, they usually cost him.
Now about the matches that WST omitted in their report …
Alan “Pretzel” Taylor beat the 18 years old Artemijs Zizins from Latvia by 4-3 from 3-1 down. Now young Artemijs is certainly one to watch this season. He plays a mature game and he absolutely hates losing. His face when leaving the arena was telling. Don’t expect fake graciousness from this young man. He was disgusted and angry and it showed! As for Alan … I don’t think there is a single person on tour who hates him. He’s fun to be around and his impressions of other players are famous, hilarious… and accurate 😂
Iulian Boiko beat the experienced Farak Ajaib by 4-2. I’m sure that this result pleased many. Iulian needed a win and this is a good one not only because it put and end to a series of close defeats but also because after leading by 3-0 and being pegged back 3-2, Iulian kept his composure and played a very good, mature, last frame to take the match.
There was another good win for “Dark Mavis”. This time it’s young Robbie McGuigan who was at the receiving end of a ruthless display by the dark one… he was beaten 4-0 and scored a grand total of 63 points in the match.
I can’t really comment on the other matches, I saw nothing of what happened at the table, but it seems that Michael Holt is in great shape. He had three breaks over 50 in beating Reanne Evans by 4-0. Reanne scored 27 points in total. Ouch!
Ronnie O'Sullivan 