Former World Championship finalist Barry Hawkins has labelled the decision to suddenly cancel the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters “very disappointing”, with players blindsided by the announcement.
A 10-year deal for the Saudi Arabian tournament was announced in 2024 but it has been axed after just two editions.
The World Snooker Tour said: “Following constructive discussions between The Saudi Billiard and Snooker Federation and Matchroom following the conclusion of the 2025 editions, it has been mutually agreed not to proceed with future editions of the World Pool Championship and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.”
The decision means the World Snooker Tour has lost its most lucrative ranking tournament outside the UK, with a total prize pot of £2.3m and £500,000 for the winner, the same as an offer at the World Snooker Championship.
Speaking after beating Mark Williams 13-9 at the World Championship on Saturday, Hawkins said players only found out after receiving a “stupid email” and said they had not been told the reasoning behind the move.
He said: “What a disappointment. Without sounding rude, something’s gone wrong for us to lose that tournament. What’s happened to the 10-year contract? It’s just been blown out of the water.
“We don’t get no explanation, nothing, which is very, very annoying. We just get some stupid email saying it’s been stopped. No explanation, nothing. Very disappointing, it’s a massive tournament to lose.
“It’d be interesting to see the reason behind it.”
Judd Trump beat Mark Williams in the inaugural edition in Riyadh, with Neil Robertson defeating Ronnie O’Sullivan in the 2025 event.
The news comes as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has invested heavily in sports from golf to football to tennis, looks to pull back from several of its flagship ventures amid a reassessment of its priorities.
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund is reportedly set to pull its funding for the rebel golf league LIV Golf after just four years, having pumped more than $5bn into the project, and it has not renewed a three-year deal to host the tennis WTA Tour Finals after this year’s edition.
The decision to axe the Masters means players defending ranking points from the tournament – which are tied to prize money earned in snooker’s two-year rolling system – may lose out and drop down the standings.
Williams continued: “I suppose that’s one of the downsides to having a money ranking system, because it’s so top heavy.
“Now these guys like Neil Robertson and Judd Trump, they haven’t got a chance to defend that £500,000, that’s just going to be wiped off, and there’s no tournament to replace that.
“Other people down the rankings are going to suffer as well. We all thought it was on for 10 years, but for whatever reason it’s been called off.”
