Riyadh Season Snooker Championship: Schedule, who's playing, how to watch, and golden ball rules and prize money
Updated 19/11/2025 at 14:27 GMT
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The Riyadh Season Snooker Championship will feature 10 of the world's top snooker stars, including world No. 1 Judd Trump and seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan. The event runs over three days and will feature a $1m (£760,000) bonus for potting a golden ball to make a 167 break. All the action from the tournament will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Golden ball explainer: What are the rules? When can it be potted?
Video credit: TNT Sports
It’s golden ball time again.
Snooker’s biggest stars are set to compete at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship this week, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
The tournament features a golden ball, which is worth 20 points and can only be potted at the end of a 147 maximum break. If any player pots the golden ball and makes a 167, then they will get a $1m (£760,000) bonus.
World No. 1 Judd Trump and seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan will be among the stars aiming to make golden ball history in Saudi Arabia.
When is the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship?
The three-day Riyadh Season Snooker Championship runs from November 19-21.
Play starts at 2pm UK time each day, and the semi-finals and final will be played on November 21.
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Watch the moment the first Golden Ball is removed from the table at the World Masters
Video credit: TNT Sports
Who is playing?
The Riyadh Season Snooker Championship will feature 10 of the world’s top snooker players, along with two wildcards.
Defending champion Mark Allen is back and is joined in the draw by world champion Zhao Xintong, world No. 1 Judd Trump, and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, John Higgins, Ding Junhui and Shaun Murphy are also competing.
The two wildcards are 15-year-old Ziyad Al-Qabbani, who has won the national junior title twice, and 22-year-old Ayman Alamri.
The opening match of the event sees Al-Qabbani face Murphy, with the winner to meet O’Sullivan in round two. The winner of that tie will face Zhao in the quarter-finals.
All matches are best-of-seven frames until the final, which is best-of-nine frames.
Riyadh Season Snooker Championship schedule
(All times UK)
November 19
First round
- Murphy v Al-Qabbani (2pm)
- Ding v Alamri (3pm)
Second round
- O’Sullivan v Murphy/Al-Qabbani (7pm)
- Higgins v Ding/Alamri (8pm)
November 20
Quarter-finals
- Wilson v Robertson (2pm)
- Allen v Higgins/Ding/Alamri (3pm)
- Trump v Williams (7pm)
- Zhao v O’Sullivan/Murphy/Al-Qabbani (8pm)
November 21
- Semi-finals - 2pm, 3pm
- Final - 7pm
What are the golden ball rules?
The ‘golden ball’ was first introduced at last year’s Riyadh Season World Masters, with a prize of £395,000 for anyone potting it.
At the 2025 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, the reward is $1m (£760,000), which eclipses the £500,000 total for winning the World Championship.
The rules of the golden ball are:
- At the start of each frame, the golden ball will be placed on the table, in the centre of the baulk cushion.
- If a 147 is possible in the frame, the golden ball will remain on the table. If a player completes a 147 maximum, he will then have the chance to pot the golden ball to complete the 167.
- Once a 147 is no longer possible, the golden ball will be removed from the table, until the start of the next frame.
- Any foul or infringement involving the golden ball incurs a penalty of four points or the value of the ball ‘on’, whichever is greater.
How to watch the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship
All the action from the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
You can subscribe to TNT Sports through discovery+, BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.
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