Snooker star blasts bosses as £2.3million tournament is axed from calendar in email

Barry Hawkins has branded snooker chiefs as ‘stupid’ following the axing of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters after just two years.

First staged in 2024, the ranking event boasts an eye-watering total prize fund of £2.3million, with the winner walking away with £500,000.

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There was also a tidy £50,000 bonus for any player who reeled off a maximum break of 147 throughout the tournament.

Judd Trump beat Mark Williams in the inaugural competition, with Neil Roberston triumphing over Ronnie O’Sullivan in August 2025.

The World Snooker Tour billed the event – which had been the second-most lucrative tournament in the calendar – as the ‘fourth major’.

Featuring 144 players, a ten-year deal had been thrashed out between the WST and Saudi backers, however, the tournament failed to draw in spectators.

The WST announced the scrapping of the event on Saturday amid Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund [PIF] re-evaluating their financial backing to certain sports.

Plans to host the 2035 Rugby World Cup have already been abandoned, while LIV Golf could be a high-profile casualty.

Speaking of the news following his World Championship second round win over Williams, Hawkins was quick to express his dismay.

He said: “What a disappointment, without sounding rude, I just think something’s gone wrong for us to lose that tournament.

“What’s happened to the ten-year contract we had? 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 today saying it’s been stopped.

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“No explanation why, nothing. Very disappointing, it’s a massive tournament to lose.

“It’d be interesting to see what the reason was behind it. I’ve heard something, I don’t know how true it is, but it’s pathetic.”

He added: “So, yeah, really disappointed, because it’s a big part of the season, massive part of season.

“Like I say, we get some silly email, not even an explanation why we lost it. So, yeah, very disappointed.”

And Hawkins concluded by saying: “It was a ten-year contract. It has disappeared, so I mean, what is it just not worth [anything]… Where’s it gone?

“If they sign a contract, why has it just disappeared like that? I don’t understand.

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“Like I say, it’s so disappointing, just get an email today saying, ‘Oh, we’ve been so well supported.’

“And, you know, to be honest, there was no one in the crowd anyway, I’ve heard the reasons why it wasn’t promoted that well.

“I normally don’t say much, but yeah, I’m very unhappy about it, to be honest with you.”

Hawkins will now turn his attention to the World Championship quarter-finals having dispatched Matthew Stevens and Williams.

He will meet Mark Allen in the next round, as he looks to reach his first Crucible final since 2013 – where he lost 18-12 to O’Sullivan.