2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship: Draw, details on golden ball 167 break event from Saudi Arabia

Following Mark Selby's victory at the Champion of Champions in Leicester, it's back-to-back invitational events on the professional circuit, with the world's top 10 ranked snooker stars heading to the Middle East for a slice of the huge riches on offer in the Kingdom.

Mark Allen is the reigning and defending champion having won the title last December. Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed the inaugural edition staged several months earlier. On both occasions, Luca Brecel was the runner-up.

Who is playing in Riyadh, and how does the draw and format work?

The third staging of this unique competition, the format remains the same as the opening two editions.

The tournament features 12 players - the top ten from the world rankings list (immediately after October's Xi'an Grand Prix) and two local amateur wildcards.

However, it was only the top nine from the world rankings (at the time of cut off) who got in, as Zhao Xintong - who, as per competition rules being the reigning world champion - received an automatic place despite being placed outside of the 10.

Because of this, 10th-placed Mark Selby missed out, pipped by Shaun Murphy who successfully completed a very late qualification dash.

The ten professional players who have qualified for the 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, and their seeding positions for the event, are - 1: Mark Allen (defending champion), 2: Zhao Xintong (reigning world champion), 3: Judd Trump, 4: Kyren Wilson, 5: Neil Robertson, 6: Mark Williams, 7: Ronnie O'Sullivan, 8: John Higgins, 9: Ding Junhui, 10: Shaun Murphy.

Zhao and Robertson will be making their debuts in the competition. The two wildcards are both youngsters from the host country - 15-year-old Ziyad Al-Qabbani and 22-year-old Ayman Alamri. They are also making their debuts.

There is an unusual system to the draw, which consists of five rounds. First up, the two lowest ranked seeds will face the wildcards with the winners of those matches facing seeds 7 and 8 in round two. The two winners from these matches then go into the quarter-finals where the top six seeds enter the fray.

All matches are the best of seven frames, except for the final which is best of nine.

How can you make a 167 'super-maximum' break in snooker, the golden ball rules explained

The Riyadh Season Championship is played to traditional snooker rules, but there is one significant twist - the addition of a 'golden ball' that is placed on the table at the start of a frame touching the baulk cushion in the centre (in line with the brown, blue, pink and black ball spots).

Should a player make a 147 break, they will then attempt to pot the golden ball - that is worth 20 points - to complete a 167 'super-maximum'.

As soon as a 147 break is unable to be made in a frame, the golden ball is removed from the table by the referee and does not return until the next frame.

The golden ball only ‘actively’ comes into play if the 167 super-maximum is possible. Players are not allowed to nominate or pot the golden ball as an object ball unless it is for the final shot of a 167 attempt.

However, it is possible that the golden ball could be moved if other balls collide into it as part of a legal shot. For example, if a player plays a safety off the reds and into baulk, the cue ball could nudge it, or if a player is on for the 167, they may elect to try and cannon the golden ball into a more favourable position from a pot. In theory, a player could snooker an opponent using the golden ball as a blocker.

What is the prize for potting the golden ball and making a 167 break in Saudi?

There is a $1 million jackpot prize for each and every 167 super-maximum made at the 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.

No one was able to make a 167 super-maximum during either of the first two editions of the event in 2024, so an unprecedented piece of snooker history could be witnessed in 2025.

The closest we've seen to a player making a 167 is John Higgins at the opening edition in March 2024 when he potted 15 reds with blacks before missing a very thin cut on the yellow whilst on a break of 120.

The first staging, called the World Masters of Snooker, had a $500,000 prize for a 167. This was doubled for the second edition.

Tournament schedule

• Wednesday 19th: Two round one matches in the first session, two round two matches in the second session
• Thursday 20th: Two quarter-final matches in the first session, two quarter-final matches in the second session
• Friday 21st: Two semi-final matches in the first session, final in the second session

What is the prize money at the 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, how much does the winner get?

Obviously there is a lot of talk about the $1 million bonus on offer for a 167 super-maximum, but there is a huge prize fund for the tournament itself with the winner set to bank £250,000. The top six seeds in the event are guaranteed at least £50,000.

• Champion: £250,000
• Runner-up: £125,000
• Losing semi-finalists: £75,000 (each)
• Losing quarter-finalist: £50,000 (each)
• Losers in round two: £25,000 (each)
• Losers in round one: £5,000 (each)
• Regular prize fund: £785,000

There is a $1 million bonus prize on offer for each and every 167 super-maximum made during the tournament.

How to watch the 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship:

The entire event will be shown for free on WST Play, although several other platforms will also be broadcasting the tournament.

Additional places to watch:

• UK & Ireland: TNT Sports and discovery+
• Mainland Europe: Eurosport and locally relevant streaming platforms (discovery+ in Germany, Italy and Austria and HBO Max in all other markets)
• China: Huya.com, CBSA-WPBSA Academy WeChat Channel, CBSA-WPBSA Academy Douyin
• Hong Kong China: Now TV
• Malaysia: Astro
• Philippines: Tap
• Taiwan: Sportcast
• Thailand: True Sport