2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters event preview: Who are the favourites to win the jackpot in Jeddah?

The 2025/26 World Snooker Tour season continues to gather serious pace. Stephen Maguire won the first trophy of the new campaign - and ended his five-year wait for a ranking title - at the Championship League, and just a few days ago Kyren Wilson secured his second Shanghai Masters crown.

How does the draw for the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters work?

In total, 144 players are set to take part in the 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters. All professional tour card holders were eligible to enter, and those that put their names forward will be joined by a handful of Q School top-ups and 16 local amateur wildcards.

The event features a tiered draw format - exactly the same as what both the UK and World Championships currently use. This means players enter the tournament depending on their world ranking. It is the opposite to a flat draw where all cueists start in the opening round.

There are nine rounds in total, and all matches in the competition will be played at the Green Halls main venue. There are no ‘qualifying’ matches held elsewhere, which we see in the UK and World events. A round will be completed each day.

The lowest ranked players and amateur invites begin in round one on Friday 8th August. The top 16 seeds don’t enter the fray until round five (last 32) on Tuesday 12th August.

For full details on the schedule, including the draw, please visit our tournament information centre here.

Title holder Judd Trump is the Jeddah favourite

With a huge £500,000 on offer to the champion - the same amount that Zhao Xintong received for triumphing at the Crucible a few months ago - it is not surprising to learn that an all-star cast is scheduled to travel to the Middle East. However, current Wuhan Open champion Xiao Guodong, and reigning World Women’s Champion Bai Yulu have elected to play in the World Games in their home country instead.

Reigning and defending Saudi Arabia Masters champion Judd Trump is the favourite with bookmakers.

Trump won the inaugural edition last year in thrilling circumstances, producing a clutch counter clearance to oust Mark Williams 10-9 in the final, on the very last black.

Like all the other top 16 seeds, Trump won't know who his opening opponent in round five is until the day before, although he'll have a good idea looking at the draw.

World number one Trump could face either Noppon Saengkham - who made a maximum 147 break in last year's event and collected a £50,000 bonus - or Matthew Selt, a player he has met in a world ranking event final before.

The top quarter is stacked, with fellow career Triple Crown winners Neil Robertson and Mark Selby both also placed there.

So to is recent Shanghai Masters runner-up Ali Carter, who would play Trump in the last 16 if both navigate their first assignments at the Green Halls. Because of Xiao Guodong's non-entry, world number 17 Carter becomes one of the top 16 seeds for the tournament and avoids the bother of being in rounds three and four.

Newly-minted World Champion Zhao Xintong will be featuring in this event for the first time, and the Crucible conqueror is second favourite for the title.

Placed at the bottom of the draw as the number two seed, China’s Zhao could play either Jimmy Robertson or fellow countryman Zhou Yuelong.

There is a familiar look to the bottom quarter of the draw, as Zhao is on course to share the baize with Chris Wakelin for his third consecutive tournament, in the last 16.

Elsewhere in that section are Barry Hawkins and Ding Junhui, and in the earlier rounds is the in-form Stephen Maguire who would come up against Ding if he negotiates his first two tasks.

Kyren Wilson going for back-to-back titles in Asia

World number two Kyren Wilson claimed his sixth professional title inside the past 15 months, in Shanghai last week, and a deep run here will assist him greatly in his pursuit of catching Trump at the top of the rankings tree.

Wilson may be in line for a very interesting opening match, with Lei Peifan and Jackson Page the favourites to advance from round four to play him.

Scottish Open champion Lei unleashed the Crucible Curse on Wilson a few months ago when he stunned him on the opening day of the televised stages, while Page's stock in the sport continues to rise following his historic double maximum at the last world qualifiers.

The other top 16 stars in Wilson's section of the draw are Si Jiahui, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Allen.

Out of all these players, Si went the furthest in this event 12 months ago, defeating O'Sullivan on his way to the semi-finals. Last week in Shanghai, Si narrowly lost to Wilson in the last 16 - and they could cross cues at the same stage here.

It has been a frustrating and disjointed 12 months for O'Sullivan on the baize; his last title win came 17 months ago, and his last appearance in a final was in April 2024.

Last week in Shanghai, O'Sullivan pipped Barry Hawkins 6-5 before bowing out to Wilson 6-3 in the last eight.

Currently the world number five, but projected to be outside the top 16 later this season, a good result here could help alleviate some ranking points pressure on O'Sullivan, as he continues to rebuild his game with a new cue.

O'Sullivan may have a blockbuster opening tie against either 2023 World Champion Luca Brecel, or Joe O'Connor, who has reached two ranking event finals this calendar year.

Former world number one Allen withdrew from Shanghai due to personal/family reasons, so this will be his first big stage outing of the new term.

The remaining quarter of the draw is section two where last year's runner-up Williams, and fellow 'Class of 92' member John Higgins are stationed.

Shaun Murphy and Zhang Anda are the other top seeds here; Murphy enjoyed a sequence to the last four last season where he was denied by eventual champion Trump in a deciding frame.

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