Breaking news: unexpected announcement so sad mark Allen just tender registnation letter today base on Saudi can meet up his demand anyone see more..
World number three Allen is also not sure on the ‘major’ status, telling Belfast ‘You don’t want to be seen to throw money at something then it becomes a major and it’s history.
‘Events itself create history. There’s a long way go. I think the players would look at the Triple Crown as being a long way ahead of it.’
Allen will be playing at the upcoming non-ranking Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker in March, featuring the top eight players in the word plus two wildcards.
He is delighted with the big-money events being added to the calendar, hoping that they could see further expansion for the game in the Middle East.
‘The money sounds amazing,’ he said. ‘Let’s not sugar-coat it, we want to win tournaments, but we have to pay bills and want to earn money.
‘You never know what it could lead to in the region with the likes of Dubai and places like that. It’s a massive step in the right direction.’
The opportunity for huge financial gains has unsurprisingly gone down well with players, with the top prize expected to be around £500,000.
Four-time world champion John Higgins certainly is seeing the new event as a major, suggesting it is close to the World Championship thanks to the prize fund.
‘If you introduce that sort of prize fund to the tour, we will be looking at it on a par with the World Championship,’ said the Wizard of . ‘As a snooker player it’s all about your earning potential. Everyone will be gunning for that top prize.
‘One of my first tournaments away was in Dubai in 1994. At that time we thought snooker would get big in the Middle East. It has been a long time since then. But hopefully now it’s here to stay because this deal is for ten years. I’ll have to keep playing until I’m nearly 60 to enjoy it!’
