2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters: Day One Preview, Matches, Order of Play

This new ranking event on the World Snooker Tour has been several years in the making, having initially been scheduled for October 2020 but postponed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. A total of 144 cueists - including 17 amateur wildcards from across the Middle East region - will compete in this much discussed tournament, with all of them set to play at the main venue.

There is a massive prize fund of just over £2.3 million on offer; £500,000 of that going to the champion on Saturday 7th September, the same amount that Kyren Wilson collected when he won the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre a few months ago.

The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters uses a tiered draw system, meaning players enter the competition dependant on their world ranking position (before the Xi’an Grand Prix). There are nine rounds in total, with a round played and completed each day. The world's top 16 - who have all entered - start their campaigns in round five (last 32) on Tuesday 3rd September.

The lowest ranked professional players, Q School top-ups, and Middle East wildcards feature on the opening day. All matches in this round are the best of seven frames with no intervals. There are two sessions - starting at 12:00BST and 18:00BST - with two blocks of eight matches in each session. Eight tables will be used in the arena for the opening five days of the event.

Feature matches on the opening day in Riyadh

Several standout matches are on the opening day, including 62-year-old Jimmy White who faces the United Arab Emirates' Mohamed Shehab, who returned to the professional circuit this season having qualified through the Global Q Tour Playoffs.

In a contest pitching together youth versus experience, 1997 World Snooker Champion Ken Doherty meets teenage rookie Liam Davies. Doherty is looking for his first win of the season having lost in the first round of his opening three ranking event outings.

While the contest between White and Shehab features a combined age of 109, the all-teenage tie between Stan Moody (17) and Ziyad Al-Qabbani (14) adds up to only 31. Al-Qabbani is one of the host nation's most exciting young talents who has been awarded an invite, and it will be interesting to see how he gets on the big stage.

It's the first time that Saudi Arabia has hosted a professional ranking event, but it's not the first time for the Middle East region as a whole, following the staging of the Dubai Classic in the late 80s and early 90s, and the one-off Bahrain Championship in 2008.

The only wildcard playing in Riyadh on Friday who was around for the aforementioned Bahrain showcase is Habib Subah, a former professional and one of the Middle East's top players for over two decades. Subah has been practicing with White in the lead up to this event, and he plays pro rookie Antoni Kowalski in a very intriguing first round fixture.

All four women professional players are set for action at the Green Halls. Reigning World Women's Snooker Champion Bai Yulu meets Chinese compatriot Lei Peifan.

17-year-old rookie Gong Chenzhi narrowly missed out on reaching the last eight of last week's Xi'an Grand Prix. The promising teenager is up against Iraqi wildcard Ali Jalil Ali in this opening stage.

Winners of these opening round matches advance to Saturday's round of 112 where they meet players higher up the world rankings.

For the full draw, results and other important details, please visit our 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Tournament Information Centre here.

Day One Order of Play at the 2024 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters

12:00BST

• Allan Taylor v Adeel Aqdus
• Baipat Siripaporn v Mohamed Elkhayat
• Michael Holt v Ahmad Abul
• Oliver Lines v Faisal Bahashwan
• Robbie McGuigan v Abdulraouf Saigh
• Rory Thor v Omar Alajlani
• Chris Totten v Haris Tahir
• Reanne Evans v Simon Blackwell

Not before 13:00BST

• Mink Nutcharut v Kusai Hamed
• Farakh Ajaib v Haitham Al Mahri
• Julien Leclercq v Dylan Emery
• Lei Peifan v Bai Yulu
• Artemijs Zizins v Kok Leong Lim
• Ben Mertens v Abdullah Alotayyani
• Liam Graham v Ali Hussain Ali
• Ka Wai Cheung v Joshua Thomond

18:00BST

• Jimmy White v Mohamed Shehab
• Huang Jiahao v Ahmed Elsayed
• Antoni Kowalski v Habib Subah
• Andrew Pagett v Wang Yuchen
• Gong Chenzhi v Ali Jalil Ali
• Bulcsu Revesz v Iulian Boiko
• Haydon Pinhey v Ayman Alamri
• Mitchell Mann v Paul Deaville

Not before 19:00BST

• Manasawin Phetmalaikul v Amir Sarkhosh
• Stan Moody v Ziyad Al-Qabbani
• Dean Young v Saleh Alamoudi
• Duane Jones v Khalid Alkamali
• Liam Davies v Ken Doherty
• Kreishh Gurbaxani v Sunny Akani
• Mostafa Dorgham v Jonas Luz
• Zak Surety v Ali Alobaidli