 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18–20 December 2024 (2024-12-18 –2024-12-20) |
| Venue | Global Theatre |
| City | Boulevard City,Riyadh |
| Country | Saudi Arabia |
| Organisation | World Snooker Tour |
| Format | Non-ranking event |
| Total prize fund | £785,000 |
| Winner's share | £250,000 |
| Highest break |  Ding Junhui (CHN) (143) |
| Final | |
| Champion |  Mark Allen (NIR) |
| Runner-up |  Luca Brecel (BEL) |
| Score | 5–1 |
2025 → | |
The2024 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship was a professional non-rankingsnooker tournament that took place from 18 to 20 December 2024 at the Global Theatre inRiyadh, Saudi Arabia. Organised by theWorld Snooker Tour, the tournament was part of theRiyadh Season festival in the city's entertainment district,Boulevard City. The event was broadcast worldwide byDAZN as well as other local broadcasters. The winner received £250,000 from a total prize fund of £785,000.
The event comprised 12 players: the top ten players in thesnooker world rankings and two localwildcard players, Abdulraouf Saigh and Ahmed Aseeri. It featured a non-standard 20-point gold ball, the "Riyadh Season ball", that could bepotted only after a player had completed amaximum break. The first player to pot the gold ball and extend a 147 break to 167 would win a special prize ofUSD$1,000,000.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was the defending champion, having defeatedLuca Brecel 5–2 in theprevious final,[1] but he lost 2–4 toMark Allen in the semi‑finals. Allen went on to win the tournament, defeating Brecel 5–1 in the final.[2][3] No player achieved the 167 break;Zhang Anda came closest in his first-round match when he potted 12reds with 12blacks.[2] The tournament produced 14century breaks, the highest being a 143 byDing Junhui in the second round.[4]
The event took place from 18 to 20 December in the entertainment districtBoulevard City within Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[5] The event was first held as the2024 World Masters of Snooker in March 2024 (as part of the preceding2023–24 season) as the first professional snooker event ever held in Saudi Arabia.
| Colour | Value |
|---|---|
 Red | 1 point |
 Yellow | 2 points |
 Green | 3 points |
 Brown | 4 points |
 Blue | 5 points |
 Pink | 6 points |
 Black | 7 points |
 Riyadh Season ball | 20 points |
All matches were played as the best of seven frames except the final, which was played as the best of nine frames.[5] The matches were played under regular snooker rules, but the event used a gold ball worth 20 points, called the "Riyadh Season ball". The gold ball was placed on the centre of thebaulk cushion, in line with thebrown,blue,pink, andblack balls. It could only bepotted after a player had completed amaximum break of 147, to extend the break to 167.Fouling the gold ball would award 4penalty points to the opponent. The gold ball stayed on the table as long as it was possible for either player to complete a maximum break, then it was removed from the table until the next frame.[6][7]
The event featured twelve players, including the top ten players on thesnooker world rankings, with the defending championRonnie O'Sullivanseeded first, thereigning World ChampionKyren Wilson seeded second, and the rest based on their rankings. It also featured two localwildcard players, Abdulraouf Saigh and Ahmed Aseeri from Saudi Arabia, who qualified by winning a local qualifying tournament.[5][8]
The tournament was broadcast worldwide byDAZN. It was also broadcast by the CBSA‑WPBSA AcademyWeChat Channel, the CBSA‑WPBSA AcademyDouyin andHuya Live in China; byNow TV in Hong Kong; byAstro SuperSport in Malaysia; byTrue Sports in Thailand; byTAP in the Philippines; by Sportcast in Taiwan; and bySportstars andVision+ in Indonesia.[9]
The event featured a total prize pool of£785,000. An additional prize of$1,000,000 (about £787,000) would be given to the first player to compile a 167 break.[10] The breakdown of prize money for the event is shown below:[11]
Numbers in parentheses after the players' names denote the players'seedings, and players in bold denote match winners. All matches were played as the best of seven frames except the final, which was played as the best of nine frames.[5][12][13]
| Round 1 Best of 7 frames | Round 2 Best of 7 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 7 frames | Semi-finals Best of 7 frames | Final Best of 9 frames | |||||||||||||||
 Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)(1) | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ding Junhui (CHN)(9) | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Shaun Murphy (ENG)(8) | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ding Junhui (CHN)(9) | 4 | Ding Junhui (CHN)(9) | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
 Abdulraouf Saigh (KSA) | 0 | Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)(1) | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Mark Allen (NIR)(5) | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mark Selby (ENG)(4) | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mark Allen (NIR)(5) | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mark Allen (NIR)(5) | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Luca Brecel (BEL)(7) | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Judd Trump (ENG)(3) | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
 Mark Williams (WAL)(6) | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Mark Williams (WAL)(6) | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Zhang Anda (CHN)(10) | 4 | Luca Brecel (BEL)(7) | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Ahmed Aseeri (KSA) | 0 | Luca Brecel (BEL)(7) | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| Zhang Anda (CHN)(10) | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Kyren Wilson (ENG)(2) | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Luca Brecel (BEL)(7) | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Final: Best of 9 frames. Referee:Kevin Dabrowski Global Theatre,Boulevard City,Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 20 December 2024 | ||
| Mark Allen(5) Northern Ireland | 5–1 | Luca Brecel(7) Belgium |
| Frame scores: 30–67,104–49 (104),80–1,129–5 (109),82–43,63–36 | ||
| (frame 4)109 | Highest break | 43(frame 5)[a] |
| 2 | Century breaks | 0 |
A total of 14century breaks were made in the tournament.[4]