The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters received’t be returning after simply two editions, and whereas that may not come as an enormous shock, it does depart the game with just a few awkward inquiries to reply.
The World Snooker Tour confirmed the controversial event’s cancellation in an announcement on Saturday, saying: “It has been mutually agreed to not proceed with future editions of the World Pool Championship and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.”
The same old positives have been highlighted – new audiences and alternatives for native gamers – however the actuality is that this was a enterprise that arrived with loads of noise and has disappeared simply as rapidly.
Whereas, from a political and ethical standpoint, many individuals took umbrage with the engagement within the first place, taking snooker to Saudi Arabia wasn’t actually the primary situation in a sporting sense.
Snooker must develop internationally and new markets ought to be explored the place attainable – particularly profitable locations that different sports activities have already efficiently tapped into.
However elevating the occasion to “fourth main” standing all the time appeared disingenuous and made a mockery of the storied historical past of the sport.
It got here throughout as a requirement that had been pushed – or basically purchased on the again of its mega prize fund – somewhat than one thing particular that had earned its place.
That call appears to be like much more questionable now that the event is gone, and the sensation is barely bolstered by the truth that this was initially introduced as a long-term settlement spanning a decade.
Simply two editions later, that dedication has already fallen away in an embarrassing blow to snooker’s hierarchy.
So what now turns into of a “main” that lasted solely two years?
Judd Trump and Neil Robertson received the titles in 2024 and 2025 respectively, every choosing up a £500,000 cheque that mirrors the one provided on the World Championship.
Nevertheless it’s laborious to understand how these victories can be considered within the years forward when the occasion itself has already fallen off the calendar.
It’s not simply the historic debate both. There’s a really actual, present-day impression as effectively.
As issues stand, Trump and Robertson are battling to complete the season as world primary on the World Snooker Championship, and each have been closely boosted by the prize cash earned in Saudi Arabia.
That alone highlights a wider situation within the sport.
When rankings are based mostly on prize cash, a single occasion with a prize fund on the size of the World Championship can tilt the panorama in a approach that doesn’t actually replicate the remainder of the season.
For a lot of additional down the official two-year listing, being unable to defend the rating factors they earned at these two editions in Saudi may finally have essential implications on their tour survival aspirations.
For 2 years, the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters had that form of affect. Now it’s gone, however the impact of it hasn’t but gone with it.
After all, there have been loads of early indicators that it was all going to finish badly anyway.
For all of the funding and the promise of improvement, the crowds in Riyadh and Jeddah all the time seemed skinny.
Many of the environment that was generated got here throughout as manufactured, with the presentation pressured and little or no scrutiny delivered from any of the broadcasts.
It was all the time extra about optics than authenticity.
The Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, one other occasion staged in Saudi Arabia since 2024, moreover launched its controversial “golden ball” value 20 factors – that means a most break may theoretically attain 167.
Whether or not that invitational event continues is unclear, nevertheless it was one other instance of how simply the game’s conventional construction was bent to be able to accommodate the calls for of a brand new market.
The return of the China Open – conveniently introduced as a optimistic information story by WST simply earlier than this reveal – is undoubtedly a great addition for the game in a rustic that does, in actual fact, take snooker very severely.
It doesn’t actually change the larger image, nevertheless.
A system so closely tied to prize cash is all the time going to be weak to this type of rise-and-fall cycle, the place one occasion can reshape every thing after which vanish simply as rapidly.
And in a determined try and develop the game at any value, the World Snooker Tour allowed one thing to be positioned as a significant alongside its greatest occasions with out the inspiration to help it.
Now that it’s already gone, that call appears to be like troublesome to justify.
Featured picture credit score: WST
