End of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Agreement

Apr 26, 2026, 17:02

Introduction

The World Snooker Tour has announced that the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and the World Pool Championship will end. This follows a mutual agreement between Matchroom and the Saudi Billiard and Snooker Federation.

Main Body

The agreement was cancelled despite a ten-year contract created in 2024. The event offered a total prize fund of £2.3 million, with the winner receiving £500,000. Neil Robertson won the second edition in 2025. This tournament was the most financially rewarding event on the ranking calendar outside of the UK. This decision is part of a larger strategy by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF). For the 2026-2030 period, the fund is prioritizing the 2034 football World Cup over other sports. As a result, the PIF has reduced its support for LIV Golf and decided not to renew the WTA Tour Finals agreement. Governor Yasir al-Rumayyan claimed that these changes were partly caused by pressures from the conflict in Iran. Some professional players, such as Barry Hawkins, criticized the way the news was shared, asserting that the email they received lacked a detailed explanation. Furthermore, players expressed concerns about the stability of long-term contracts and the lack of effective promotion for the event. This removal also creates a problem for the tour's ranking system. Since ranking points depend on prize money, top players like Judd Trump and Neil Robertson cannot defend their previous earnings, which may cause their official rankings to drop. Although the China Open has returned, its £1.2 million prize fund is much lower than the Saudi event.

Conclusion

The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters has ended because of a change in Saudi Arabia's financial priorities, leaving players to deal with the negative effects on the professional ranking system.

Vocabulary Learning

defend (v.)
to protect someone or something from attack or criticism, or to maintain a position in competition防守；維護；辯護
Example:Judd Trump cannot defend his ranking points after the tournament was cancelled.
official (adj.)
having been formally approved or authorized; recognized by an authority官方的；正式的
Example:The official rankings will be updated next week.
prioritizing (v.)
putting something first in importance / giving higher priority to something優先考慮；優先安排
Example:The government is prioritizing infrastructure projects over cultural events.
promotion (n.)
the act of encouraging or advertising something to increase its visibility or sales推廣；宣傳
Example:The promotion of the new snooker tournament attracted many sponsors.
stability (n.)
the quality of being steady and not changing suddenly穩定性；穩定
Example:Players worry about the stability of long‑term contracts.

Sentence Learning

The agreement was cancelled despite a ten-year contract created in 2024.
Passive Voice: The verb 'was cancelled' is in the passive voice, indicating that the action was performed on the agreement by an unspecified agent.被動語態: 動詞 'was cancelled' 以被動語態表達，表示行動是對協議施加的，施動者未被明確指出。
Since ranking points depend on prize money, top players like Judd Trump and Neil Robertson cannot defend their previous earnings, which may cause their official rankings to drop.
Relative Clause: The clause 'which may cause their official rankings to drop' is a non‑restrictive relative clause providing additional information about the previous earnings.關係子句: 子句 'which may cause their official rankings to drop' 為非限制性關係子句，補充說明前一項賺取的收入。
Although the China Open has returned, its £1.2 million prize fund is much lower than the Saudi event.
Contrastive Conjunction: The word 'Although' introduces a contrast between the return of the China Open and its lower prize fund.對比連接詞: 連接詞 'Although' 以對比方式引入中國公開賽回歸與其獎金較低的情況。
As a result, the PIF has reduced its support for LIV Golf and decided not to renew the WTA Tour Finals agreement.
Causal Conjunction: 'As a result' signals that the following actions are consequences of earlier decisions.因果連接詞: 'As a result' 表示以下行動是前述決策的結果。
Some professional players, such as Barry Hawkins, criticized the way the news was shared, asserting that the email they received lacked a detailed explanation.
Content Clause: The clause 'that the email they received lacked a detailed explanation' is a content clause reporting what the players asserted.內容子句: 子句 'that the email they received lacked a detailed explanation' 為內容子句，報告選手所主張的內容。