A PRIZE of £500,000 is up for grabs as Ross Muir gets ready to break off at the inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters next weekend.

The tournament, which features 144 players from across the globe, has a prize fund that rivals the World Championship.

The third ranking event of the 2024/25 season gets under way in the Green Halls in Riyadh on Friday (August 30).

The draw for the competition, which has been dubbed the sport's fourth major, is yet to be made but Muir was looking forward to the tournament.

He said: “It is exciting for snooker to get into a new market.

“The Middle East is obviously a very big market for snooker and I am excited to go there and hopefully play some good stuff.

“This is the first ranking event ever to be held there.

“Last season, there was an invitational event for the top-10 players and I think that was the first ever tournament there.

“Now, it is going to be the first ranking event.

“They have just set up a world-class academy in conjunction with Ronnie O’Sullivan.

“They have got a very good player – Omar Alajlani – who was part of the 10-man tournament and there was also a player from Qatar – Ali Alobaidli.

“They have got a couple of good players in the Middle East.”

Muir is seeded at the event and will begin his quest for glory in the second round.

The Musselburgh potter highlighted that whoever he played would come into the match full of confidence, having won in the previous round.

So far this season, Muir has only won one match at a ranking tournament – losing three and drawing the other encounter.

He said: “I don’t think I have played particularly badly but the draws have been pretty brutal.

“I have had three top-16 players in the first three events and that is obviously not very easy to get your teeth into the season.

“I guess it is a bit the same in footballing terms that, until you get the first points on the board, it is not really truly started.

“I am sure it will happen at some point and I know how good I am and can play.

“It is just a matter of time before I start going deep into tournaments.”

Reaching the latter stages of ranking events is something that the 28-year-old will be looking to do over the next nine months.

Muir secured his spot at snooker’s top table after winning the European Championships in March last year.

A triumph over fellow Scot Michael Collumb meant tat he would be mixing it with the sport’s best for the next two years.

And he will need to be at his best over the coming months to ensure that he continues to do so.

Currently ranked 72nd, he needs to break into the world’s top 64, while he is also looking to reach the Crucible and the main draw of the World Championships for the first time.

He told Courier Sport: “I know at least a few good runs are going to happen this year.

“I have a few bits of advice that John Higgins and Graeme Dott have given me in the last few months that have really helped and tuned me in a lot more to work on things that I need to work on.”