Horse Racing, greyhounds and snooker specialist with thirty years experience of writing about sport across multiple platforms. A QPR and Snooker fan
World Masters of Snooker: Tournament information and the introduction of the golden ball
Ronnie O'Sullivan won the World Masters beating John Higgins, Judd Trump and Luca Brecel along the way and picked up a winner's cheque for £250,000.
The World Snooker Tour makes its first ever stop in Saudi Arabia with a new tournament added to the calendar in the World Masters.
The inaugural World Masters of Snooker takes place between Monday 4th and Wednesday 6th March at the Global Theatre in Boulevard City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The event will be televised by DAZN worlwide and by Eurosport and discovery+ in Europe.
A prize fund of $1,000,000 dollars has been allocated which gives the event the fifth highest prize fund on this year’s snooker tour.
The field comprises the top eight players on the one year list plus two local wildcards, Saudi Arabia's Omar Alajlani and Qatar's Ali Alobaidli.
The ninth and tenth seeds (John Higgins and Ding Junhui) will play the wild cards in the opening round and the winners of those matches will go on to face Ali Carter and mark Williams in Round Two.
All matches in this event will be played over seven frames up to and including the semi-finals. The final will be played over nine frames.
The World Masters marks an innovative additional rule change for this event where a golden ball will be in play.
WST have released a video, narrated by Jack Lisowski, which explains how the golden ball will be used.
OLBG's expert snooker tipsters will have tips on all the matches at the World Masters.
World Masters: Draw and results
Round One: Best of seven:
Ding Junhui v Omar Alajlani 4-0
John Higgins v Ali Alobaidli 4-0
Round Two Best of seven:
Ali Carter v Ding Junhui 4-3
Mark Williams v John Higgins 2-4
Quarter Finals Best of seven:
Luca Brecel v Ali Carter 4-1
Mark Allen v Mark Selby 4-3 (decided on the final black)
Judd Trump v Shaun Murphy 4-3
Ronnie O'Sullivan v John Higgins 4-0
Semi-finals: Best of seven frames:
Luca Brecel v Mark Allen 4-2
Judd Trump v Ronnie O'Sullivan 1-4
Final - Best of nine frames:
Ronnie O'Sullivan v Luca Brecel 5-2
World Masters: Qualification criteria
The World Masters is an inviatation event where the top ten players on World Snooker Tour's world rankings list were invited to play in Saudi Arabia.
The World Masters is just the first event planned for Saudia Arabia with a further tournament planned for Auguat/September. The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters will be a full-ranking event open to all 128 WST players plus six local wildcards and will take place for the first time from the 31st August with the final due to be played on the 7th September.
World Masters of Snooker: Prizemoney and comparison to other WST events
The addition of a $1,000,000 event onto the tour has been met with widespread appreciation from the tour's elite players but where does the World Masters fit in to the overall prizemoney rankings for this year's tour?
Below is a table that highlights the overall prizemoney available for each event on this year's tour plus the amount on offer to the winner of each event:
| 2023/24 Tournaments | Total Prizemoney | Winner's prize |
|---|---|---|
| World Championship (2023) | £2,395,000 | £500,000 |
| UK Championship | £1,205,000 | £250,000 |
| Shanghai Masters | £825,000 | £210,000 |
| International Championship | £825,000 | £175,000 |
| World Masters | £788,000 ($1,000,000) | £250,000 |
| Masters | £725,000 | £250,000 |
| Wuhan Open | £700,000 | £140,000 |
| Tour Championship | £500,000 | TBA |
| British Open | £478,000 | £100,000 |
| Champion of Champions | £440,000 | £150,000 |
| European Masters | £427,000 | £80,000 |
| English Open | £427,000 | £80,000 |
| Northern Ireland Open | £427,000 | £80,000 |
| Scottish Open | £427,000 | £80,000 |
| German Masters | £427,000 | £80,000 |
| Welsh Open | £427,000 | £80,000 |
| Players Championship | £385,000 | £125,000 |
| World Grand Prix | £380,000 | £100,000 |
| Championship League (June) | £328,000 | £33,000 |
| Championship League (Jan-March) | £205,000 | £10,000 |
| Shoot Out | £171,000 | £50,000 |
TBA = To be announced
Remember to check out OLBG's top Snooker tipsters
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