Mark Allen speaks out on crowds and atmosphere at Saudi Arabia events

Mark Allen admits the crowds and atmosphere at the Saudi Arabian snooker events leave a lot to be desired, but hopes both will improve given time.

Saudi Arabia emerged as a major destination for the World Snooker Tour with the first World Masters of Snooker, which has now become the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.

The third edition of the invitational event is held this week, while the ranking Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters has now been held twice, with Neil Robertson winning the £500,000 top prize this season.

Allen is the defending champion at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship this week, having beaten Mark Selby, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Luca Brecel on his way to the title in December last year.

It is not going to go down as one of his most cherished tournament wins, but was still proud to win an event boasting such a high-quality field.

‘I’m not going to be stupid and talk it up like a UK [Championship] win or a Masters win or even a Northern Ireland Open win for me,’ said Allen. ‘But I think it’s always good to win any event that’s just the top players in the world involved in.

‘You need to play some good stuff. Like I did last year, I played really well against Selby, really well against Ronnie, maybe not the best stuff in the final against Luca, but done more than enough.

‘So these are the type of events I love because it’s the ultimate test every match and it makes it a little bit simpler to perform. Sometimes when you’re playing, with the greatest respect, people lower down the rankings, you always feel like you might get a second chance. It’s not really like that in this event.

‘So you need to be on it from ball one. And I know that if I go out there on Thursday and don’t perform, I’ll probably lose.’

The Pistol will play Ding Junhui, John Higgins or Saudi wildcard Ayman Alamri in his opener on Thursday as he looks to land the £250,000 winner’s prize again.

The $1m bonus is also on the line for anyone who makes the first ever 167 break by potting the golden ball at the end of a 147, in the unique gimmick this tournament includes.

The crowds and atmosphere at the Saudi events so far have come in for some criticism as they have been lacking for most matches.

Allen agrees they have been poor on both fronts, but as 2024 was the first time Saudi Arabia hosted a professional event, it will need time to build popularity.

‘Yeah, I’m not going to lie. There’s not many people that come to watch,’ he said. ‘But I think you have to be objective and think of the long-term and the benefits to the sport that potentially could come from it.

‘Whenever we first started going to China, the crowds weren’t good. But look at how popular it is there now.

‘So I’m hoping it can reach those heights. It’s a 10-year deal signed for these events here in Saudi. So you have to give it time.

‘But it’s not a lot of fun to get out there playing in front of very few people and the atmosphere hasn’t been great for any of the matches so far. But you just have to give it time.’

Shaun Murphy is in action in Riyadh on Wednesday and says he expects a decent crowd in to watch him against local wildcard Ziyad Alqabbani and again later in the evening as the winner faces O’Sullivan.

‘You always want to play in a busier arena than not. You always need the crowd for that great atmosphere,’ he said. ‘But I’ve played in some matches in Saudi that have been busy.

‘The later in the event and the later in the day you go, the busier the crowd gets. I’m pretty certain that my first match at 5pm local time against the wildcard player will be fairly well attended, with him being a local. And I know if I win that match and play Ronnie later on that night, that’ll be busy.

‘These events have taken criticism unfairly, I think, over the last year or two, because it’s easy to turn to the screen on and go, “well, nobody’s there.”

‘As I’ve consistently said, it’s just too hot to go anywhere in the middle of the day. They do everything later. Come 10pm, 11pm, midnight, the matches will be busy. The way they consume sport is slightly different.’

Murphy gets the event in Riyadh underway against Alqabbani at 2pm UK time on Wednesday, followed by Ding against Alamri. O’Sullivan joins the fray at 7pm, followed by Higgins against Ding or Alamri.