Stars gear up for Saudi Arabia Masters - all you need to know

The top-16 players in the world get under way on Tuesday in the new Saudi Arabia Masters, which is the most lucrative tournament in snooker after the World Championship.

Seven-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and world number one Judd Trump are both in action in Riyadh, which uniquely hosted 144 players when play began on 30 August, without a qualifying round.

The inaugural event which has been given the unofficial title of being the sport’s ‘fourth major’ by organisers, is the biggest ever staged outside the UK in the sport’s history, with a £2.3m prize fund and £500,000 winner’s cheque available - equal to the amount on offer at the Crucible in Sheffield.

All of the top-16 players including O’Sullivan are competing at the event which is taking place in a custom-built venue at the Green Halls in the nation’s capital city.

‘The Rocket’, who signed a three-year ambassadorial agreement with Saudi Arabia earlier this year, gets his campaign started on Tuesday evening in the fifth round of the competition and will play either Iran's Hossein Vafaei or compatriot Ben Woollaston.

Trump is scheduled to face his friend and practice partner Jack Lisowski or Martin O'Donnell in the last 32.

The total prize pool is bigger than any tournament other than the World Championship with a semi-final appearance worth six figures.

Thailand's Noppon Saengkham has already put himself on course to receive a £50,000 bonus for a 147 break after compiling a maximum in his third-round victory over Iran’s Amir Sarkhosh on Sunday.

If no other player makes a 147 over the next five days, it will be the most Saengkham has ever earned at a tournament, with £30,000 also guaranteed after he reached the fourth round.

It will also give him the opportunity to potentially claim a further £147,000 if he can repeat the feat at any one of the UK Championship, Masters and World Championship.

The 17 wildcards registered to compete included 14-year-old Ziyad Al Qabbani but only one, Egypt’s Mohamed Elkhayat, progressed from the first round beating Thailand's 2023 women's world champion Baipat Siripaporn 4-3 in their best-of-seven encounter.

The 1997 world champion Ken Doherty went out in the first round, while six-time finalist Jimmy White progressed through his first two matches before losing 4-2 to China’s Si Jiahui.

Joe O'Connor, who knocked Mark Selby, the four-time world champion, out of the World Championship earlier this year, reeled off three frames in a row to beat Louis Heathcote 4-3 in the third round but Robert Milkins fell to a shock 4-3 defeat to Malaysia's Rory Thor and Scotland’s Anthony McGill lost 4-1 to England's Ashley Carty.

Neil Robertson, a 23-time ranking event winner, beat Paul Deaville 4-1, while Stephen Maguire brushed aside Ben Mertens 4-0 and Dave Gilbert defeated Alfie Burden by the same score as they all progressed to round four.