Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters 2024 Predictions: Two picks to win huge payday

The third ranking event of the season begins this week as the inaugural and controversial Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters gets underway in Riyadh. This is by far the biggest addition to the Tour this season, dubbed Snookers “fourth Major” by the WST and boasts a prize fund of £2,000,000 - second only to the World Championships. 

As always we have our snooker expert Dean Strand (@DSSnookerTips) on hand, with his comprehensive preview and Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Predictions.

History, Location and Format

The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters is a brand new ranking tournament that has been introduced by the WST to a great deal of controversy, due to the issue of Saudi 'sportwashing'. However, all the top players are playing the event, although the huge amount of prize money could have a good deal to do with that.

The tournament is being held at the Green Halls in Riyadh and runs from 31 August to 7 September 2024. The event will be broadcast on discovery+ in the UK.

The field consists of 144 players, including seven players from Saudi Arabia and the top 16 seeds will be automatically seeded into the last 32 of the tournament.

Prize Money

Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters Odds

0.5pts Each Way - Neil Robertson To Win Outright @ 18/1

I backed Robertson in the recent Xi’an Grand Prix and although he didn’t really get out of the blocks there with a first round defeat to Yuan Sijun, he’s not a player I’m ready to completely give up on just yet.

As I stated in that preview, he showed signs towards the end of last season that he was recovering some form and he’s made a solid start to this campaign with seven points in his Championship League group and heavy wins in qualifying matches.

With so much money on offer this week a lot of players are likely to struggle with the pressure, but that shouldn’t be too much of an issue for the Australian, with 23 ranking event wins he’s won all the biggest tournaments in the game, most of them multiple times.

Another reason I like Robertson for this one is the draw, his two likely qualifying round opponents are Ian Burns and Jackson Page, players he’ll be an heavy favourite to beat and then his first two opponents in the tournament proper are likely to be Gary Wilson and Mark Selby, both players who have struggled for form lately and haven’t made good starts to the season.

0.5pts Each Way - Si Jiahui To Win Outright @ 50/1

Jiahui can be an unpredictable player but when he’s on form he’s capable of brilliance, as shown in his World Championship run last year when he reached the semi finals, losing a big lead to miss out on the Final. Earlier this year he reached his first ranking event final in the German Masters.

This is another bet that’s heavily influenced by the draw, with the potential run Jiahui faces 50/1 just looks a big price for me. His highest ranked potential opponent in the qualifiers is Sam Craigie, who finished last season in terrible form and has still not played a match yet this season after struggling with a shoulder injury.

In the last 32 his opponent waiting will be Luca Brecel - 'The Belgian Bullet' has been in awful form since his shock World Championship win and hasn’t won a match yet this season. Jiahui beat Brecel 6-2 when the two met in Shanghai last month.

His likely last 16 opponent will be Tom Ford, a player who he’s beaten in all three previous meetings, the latest one again coming in last months Shanghai Masters.

Obviously his opponents are likely to get tougher from that point, but at odds of 50/1 he definitely looks worth an each way punt to me.

Check out the rest of our Snooker Betting Tips here including Dean's daily World Championship picks.