The newly created Saudi Arabian Snooker Masters will offer a £2 million prize pool and become the sport's “fourth major”, the World Snooker Tour has announced.
The world's best players will head to Riyadh at the end of August for the inaugural tournament.
The prize pot makes it the second-biggest event on the schedule after the World Championships.
This event will be a ranking event open to all tour players plus six local wildcards.
A 10-year deal has been agreed, with the first tournament to be held in the Saudi capital from August 31 to September 7, putting the World Snooker Tour in the same category as the Triple Crown of the World Championship, British Championship and Masters. enter.
This follows the Riyadh Season World Masters, a non-ranking event for the world's top eight, with players who achieve 147 points awarded an additional 20 Golden Ball points.
The deal means this year's World Pool Championships will be held in Jeddah in June.
Matchroom Sports chairman Eddie Hearn said in a statement: “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has built a reputation for growth, creating new opportunities for sport to grow in new markets and to new fans.” said.
“The country has hosted some of the world's leading sporting events in recent years, welcoming visitors from all over the world to experience its passion for sport and unique culture.
“The addition of both the Saudi Snooker Masters and the World Pool Championship over the next decade further strengthens it as it heralds an exciting chapter for snooker and nine-ball pool.
“We have seen the incredible impact that boxing has had on this region, and now we can see billiards cementing that tradition here as well, providing great opportunities and competition for some of the best players on the planet.” I believe it will produce.”
