It's become the home of heavyweight boxing and Cristiano Ronaldo, but now Saudi Arabia has seemingly identified the sport they want to stamp their national mark on next - pool.
The World Pool Championship is currently underway in the mega rich, Middle Eastern country. The competition, that is being hosted in Jeddah, has been given the famous Saudi razzmatazz - both in the elaborate opening ceremony or the facilities they put on for the players.
Saudi is hellbent on becoming the go to hosts of major sports competitions. Tyson Fury and Antony Joshua's last two boxing fights have been held in Riyadh and the country is also targeting the World Cup and the Olympic Games.
But with pool, they are not settling on solely being the hosts. There appears to be a pipeline of players, from young to old, who are targeting victory in the competition.
Emily Frazer, the CEO of Matchroom Multi-Sport, offered an insight into Saudi's hosting and competitive ambitions for the sport in an exclusive interview with Mirror Sport. “It's interesting, because in this tournament here, we've actually got 13 local players playing from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Frazer said.
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"Ten of them are on their national team and three qualified through some qualifiers leading up to the tournament. So there's a demand for nine ball pool here in the Kingdom in both pool and snooker. That is great for the two events that we are going to stage here."
Frazer also turned her attention to the junior players who have been able to compete in their own competition in Jeddah. She added: “Last year for the world championship, we weren't able to do a junior event alongside the seniors and we have been able to this year. What an opportunity we've been able to create for these players to obviously run a tournament like this.
13 players from Saudi Arabia entered into the championship"We've got 16 juniors, eight local and eight international. That's all about inspiring the next generation of players to come through. So to see that there's a demand is great."
A Saudi player was drawn to face World No.1 Francisco Sanchez Ruiz in the first round. The Spaniard was able to overcome Waleed Albalkhi on the table allocated for televised matches. When fans search the Matchroom website to see how Ruiz got on against Albalkhi, they are told the competition is: 'In partnership with the Saudi Arabian Billiard & Snooker Federation (SABSF) and the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sport'.
Albalkhi and his fellow compatriot Ahmed Al Jabar were both selected as two of 12 wildcard entries into the competition. “We've obviously got a great partnership with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sport as well as the Saudi Arabian billiards and snooker federation, who have their own national team in pool and in snooker," Frazer added. "It’s all about a legacy project as well for developing the grassroots, which is a great opportunity."
Frazer highlighted how much enjoyment the players have had from the competition. The sport is still growing and is still in the infancy of its professionalisation. Not long ago, most players turning out for the competition had part-time jobs alongside their training and matches. It's fair to say the players have been won over by the country's handling of the competition so far.
”Even the players' lounge is absolutely phenomenal," Frazer added. "They have a brilliant coffee machine. At times, I’ve snuck in and got lunch, snacks, coffee - it was wonderful. I say to the players, ‘Don't you be expecting this at all of our events, you know?’ But this is the world championship.
“I found the planning for this event really enjoyable. It’s a major tournament, there's a lot of prize money on the line, but also the setup is huge, and a lot has gone into all of this. Together with the Ministry of Sport, they've also put on this huge fan zone outside where the thought process behind it is incredible.
Frazer said she has been blown away by the tournament in Saudi Arabia (©Mark Robinson/Matchroom)
Saudi Arabia are welcoming yet another sport to their ever-growing arsenal (Getty Images/iStockphoto)“There’s computerised pool, the history of billiards, a history of nineball pool, there’s even an ice cream stand that has flags in it with special ball numbers in it for nineball. So there's so many little specific touches that have really been thought about and no stone left unturned.
“We also had probably one of the most spectacular opening ceremonies I've ever seen in my career. There was a segment where there was a shadow dancing team, flown in specially from Austria. They went through Jeddah’s journey, all the different sports that are coming into the kingdom and finished on the world pool championship. It was a 4.5 minute piece, and I've never been so engaged in my life for 4.5 minutes. Just watching what goes into the planning and the preparation that has gone into this."
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The common cliché may be 'It's the little things that counts' but when it comes to elite athletes, particularly those whose careers originated from humble beginnings, those details have a lasting impact. Saudi could become the home of pool, as it is now the home of heavyweight boxing. But a pipeline of top players from the country and region may be on their way to the world championship scene.
The World Championships is taking place from June 3-8 2024 at Green Halls Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and live on Sky Sports in the UK
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