For the first time in the entire history of World Snooker, the championship will be held in Saudi Arabia. The Snooker Masters will take place in Riyadh from October 4 to 10, 2020. The prize fund of the championship amounts to 2.5 million euros. According to the organizers’ plan, the winner who takes first place will leave with a prize of half a million euros. The remaining amount of the prize fund will be divided among the participants.
Snooker Masters: political background
World Snooker’s chairman, Barry Hearn, solemnly announced to the world about this new achievement in snooker. It is a giant leap for all players and fans accustomed to competitions in America and Europe. Attracting this sport to the Middle East is a success.
What cannot be said about politicians and international human rights organizations. After the announcement of the championship dates, negative reviews flooded the organizers. For example, the well-known Amnesty International stated that holding championships in a Muslim country is unacceptable. Concerns include restrictions on women’s freedom of speech and the death penalty for crimes.
Snooker game and participants
The Snooker Masters championship is designed for 128 participants and involves three rounds. The first round should eliminate 64 players. The second – another 32. As a result, in the third round, the best athletes will compete for the title. Starting from the second round, all players will earn ranking points. This will allow organizers to create a leaderboard of fifty players and award all of them with valuable prizes. Considering that in all sports only the top 3 participants receive prizes, this decision looks very interesting and enticing.
It remains to wait for autumn 2020 to see this grand competition among the best snooker players in the world, at least on television screens. As for World Snooker events, the organization has about 20 ranking events scheduled before the championship. By the way, the total prize fund for these is set at 15 million euros.
