Teenage Saudi Snooker Ace Ziyad Al–Qabbani Thrilled With Chance To Take On World’s Best

7 Saudi Wildcards to take part in first ever Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Riyadh

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 27 August 2024

Fourteen-year-old Saudi snooker protégé Ziyad Al–Qabbani will have the opportunity to play in the same field as the sport’s biggest stars, including his heroes Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins, at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters which starts on August 30th.

Al–Qabbani is recognised as Saudi Arabia’s best young player and has the potential to, one day, join the all-time greats on the professional tour. 

He’ll have his first experience of the big stage when he competes as a wild card at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters which runs from August 30th to September 7th at Green Halls in Riyadh.

Al–Qabbani has been drawn against Stan Moody, a talented 17-year-old from England, in a fascinating first round match-up. “My excitement is indescribable,” said Al–Qabbani. “I will try as hard as I can to win.”

The teenager first played snooker two years ago and has been supported by the Saudi Billiards and Snooker Federation, under the leadership of Dr. Nasser Al-Shammari.

Al–Qabbani now practises for eight hours every day and enjoys watching matches featuring his two favourite players O’Sullivan and Higgins. He added: “I believe that I have a chance to be a professional player and this is what the Saudi Billiards and Snooker Federation is planning for players, especially emerging players, in the short and long term. To inspire young people to play snooker is a goal of Dr. Nasser and the Saudi Billiards and Snooker Federation.”

Dr. Nasser Al-Shammari President of the Saudi Billiards and Snooker Federation said: “We are incredibly excited to welcome the world’s best snooker players to Saudi Arabia for this competition and we are thrilled that seven of our own Saudi stars will be given the opportunity to perform on this stage and to learn from some of the greatest players to ever play the game. 

"This is a landmark moment in the development of our federation and the sport of snooker in the Kingdom. We hope having the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan competing here in Riyadh in the same field as Ziyad Al-Qabbani will inspire other young people to engage with the sport of snooker and pick up a cue for the first time.”

In total there are 17 wild card players from across the Middle East in the line-up in Riyadh. They are:

Ziyad Al-Qabbani, age 14 from Saudi Arabia

Ayman Alamri, age 21 from Saudi Arabia

Abdulraouf Saigh, age 36 from Saudi Arabia

Faisal Bahashwan, age 28 from Saudi Arabia

Saleh Alamoudi, age 38 from Saudi Arabia

Abdullah Alotayyani, age 32 from Saudi Arabia

Omar Alajlani, age 45 from Saudi Arabia

Adeel Aqdus, age 37 from Pakistan

Kusai Hamed, age 35 from Libya

Khalid Alkamali, age 32 from UAE

Ali Hussain Ali, age 40 from Iraq

Ali Jalil Ali , age 33 from Iraq

Mohamed Elkhayat, age 37 from Egypt

Habib Sabah, age 41    from Bahrain

Ali Alobaidli, age 32 from Qatar

Ahmad Abul, age 31 from Kuwait

Haitham Al Mahri, age 39 from Oman

The event has total prize money of £2.3 million and there will be 144 players battling for the new trophy.

Among the legendary names in the draw are seven-time World Champion O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Allen, World Champion Kyren Wilson, Mark Selby, Higgins, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams, Ding Junhui and many more.