( MENAFN - Hill & Knowlton) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – 4 June 2024: The 2024 World Pool Championship is officially underway in Jeddah as a series of high-quality matches kicked off the ‘Crown Jewel’ of the World Nineball Tour (WNT) in the best possible fashion on Monday. In partnership with the Saudi Arabian Billiard & Snooker Federation (SABSF), Ministry of Sport, and Matchroom Multi-Sport, the 2024 edition makes its first-ever appearance in the Kingdom from June 3-8 – welcoming 128 of the planet’s premier cueists for six days of action-packed competition. Live from the Green Halls, audiences enjoyed sensational displays of cue mastery on a historic opening day which saw some of Saudi Arabia’s brightest talents go head-to-head against the world’s best players.
The most eagerly anticipated Day 1 encounter was the very first on Table 1 as defending champion Francisco Sánchez Ruíz launched his title defense against hometown hero Waleed Albalkhi. An energetic crowd watched on as the Spanish world #1 showed terrific form the prevail in his ‘Race to 9’ frames match. Reflecting on his performance, Ruiz labeled this year’s world championship in Saudi Arabia as the ‘biggest ever’ and spoke enthusiastically of the venue and his mindset looking ahead.
He revealed: “It was fantastic to be out there defending the world championship in the biggest event ever seen in our sport – I’m living the dream. Walking into the area, I thought ‘Oh my, it’s so big’ .