Former World Championship finalist Barry Hawkins has labelled the decision to suddenly cancel the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters “very disappointing”, with players blindsided by the announcement.

A 10-year deal for the Saudi Arabian tournament was announced in 2024 but it has been axed after just two editions.

The World Snooker Tour said: “Following constructive discussions between The Saudi Billiard and Snooker Federation and Matchroom following the conclusion of the 2025 editions, it has been mutually agreed not to proceed with future editions of the World Pool Championship and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.”

The decision means the World Snooker Tour has lost its most lucrative ranking tournament outside the UK, with a total prize pot of £2.3m and £500,000 for the winner, the same as an offer at the World Snooker Championship.

Speaking after beating Mark Williams 13-9 at the World Championship on Saturday, Hawkins said players only found out after receiving a “stupid email” and said they had not been told the reasoning behind the move.

He said: “What a disappointment. Without sounding rude, something’s gone wrong for us to lose that tournament. What’s happened to the 10-year contract? It’s just been blown out of the water.

“We don’t get no explanation, nothing, which is very, very annoying. We just get some stupid email saying it’s been stopped. No explanation, nothing. Very disappointing, it’s a massive tournament to lose.

“It’d be interesting to see the reason behind it.”

Judd Trump beat Mark Williams in the inaugural edition in Riyadh, with Neil Robertson defeating Ronnie O’Sullivan in the 2025 event.

The news comes as Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has invested heavily in sports from golf to football to tennis, looks to pull back from several of its flagship ventures amid a reassessment of its priorities.

The Saudi sovereign wealth fund is reportedly set to pull its funding for the rebel golf league LIV Golf after just four years, having pumped more than $5bn into the project, and it has not renewed a three-year deal to host the tennis WTA Tour Finals after this year’s edition.

The decision to axe the Masters means players defending ranking points from the tournament – which are tied to prize money earned in snooker’s two-year rolling system – may lose out and drop down the standings.

Williams continued: “I suppose that’s one of the downsides to having a money ranking system, because it’s so top heavy.

“Now these guys like Neil Robertson and Judd Trump, they haven’t got a chance to defend that £500,000, that’s just going to be wiped off, and there’s no tournament to replace that.

“Other people down the rankings are going to suffer as well. We all thought it was on for 10 years, but for whatever reason it’s been called off.”

Sabastian Sawe of Kenya has become the first person to break the fabled 2-hour barrier in an official marathon.

In a huge, once-inconceivable moment in sports history, Sawe smashed the men’s world record by 65 seconds in winning the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds on Sunday.

“What comes today is not for me alone,” Sawe said of his extraordinary feat, “but for all of us today in London.” 
Remarkably, the second-place finisher, Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia, also dipped under 2 hours by crossing the line in 1:59:41 in his first-ever marathon, while Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda broke the previous world-record time – set by Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023 – by seven seconds, finishing in 2:00:28.

The 29-year-old Sawe, who retained his title in London, said it was a “day to remember for me” and thanked the huge crowds who lined the streets of the British capital to cheer him on.

“I think they help a lot,” he said, “because if it was not for them you don’t feel like you are so loved … with them calling, you feel so happy and strong.” 
In an exhilarating sight, Sawe ran quicker as the race went on, covering the second half of the marathon in 59 minutes and 1 second. He pulled clear with Kejelcha after 30 kilometers and then made his solo break in the final two kilometers, sprinting along the finish on The Mall to loud cheers. 

Under two hours has been done before – unofficiallyBreaking two hours in a marathon has been a long time coming – and has been done before.

However, when Eliud Kipchoge – the Kenyan long-distance great – achieved the feat in Vienna in 2019, it was in a specially tailored race called the 1.59 Challenge that was arranged by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe in favorable conditions, on a 6-mile (9.6-kilometer) circuit, and using rotating pacemakers.

That meant it wasn’t classed as an official race setting, so Kipchoge’s time of 1:59:40 didn’t go in the record book.

In any case, Sawe surpassed that time by 10 seconds on a mostly flat course across London in dry, sunny conditions.

“The goalposts have literally just moved for marathon running,” Paula Radcliffe, a former winner of the London Marathon, said during commentary of the race for the BBC.

At the turn of the century, the world’s best time for the men’s marathon was 2:05:42, set by Khalid Khannouchi in Chicago in 1999.

Khannouchi broke his own record by four seconds in 2002 – the last time the fastest men’s marathon was run in London – and it has been whittled down gradually over the last 24 years by a succession of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners, including Haile Gebrselassie, Wilson Kipsang, Kipchoge and most recently Kiptum.

Assefa wins fastest-ever women’s-only marathon A record was also set in the women’s race, with Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa pulling away with about 500 meters remaining to win in 2:15:41 to defend the title in the fastest-ever time in a women’s-only marathon.

However, it was 16 seconds slower than the course record set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 when it was a mixed race.

Swiss double in wheelchair racesIn the wheelchair races, there was a Swiss double with Marcel Hug powering to a sixth straight men’s title and eighth in total and Catherine Debrunner beating Tatyana McFadden in a close finish to defend the title.

Chennai Super Kings head coach Stephen Fleming said MS Dhoni’s return from a calf strain has been delayed after the injury became worse during a warm-up game before IPL 2026.Fleming gave the update after CSK lost by eight wickets to Gujarat Titans at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.Dhoni has been with the squad since March and has been seen in practice sessions and warm-up games, but he has not played any of CSK’s eight matches so far. He has also not been at the ground on match days.Fleming said the injury remains a concern because another setback could rule Dhoni out for the whole season.“The calf is a tough one,” CSK head coach Stephen Fleming said after they went down to Gujarat Titans by eight wickets on Sunday. “If he takes off and rips the calf again, then he will be gone [for the whole season]. So we pushed it early. In a warm-up game, he tweaked it again, is my understanding. And since then, he has been just working hard to get some movement into it. But there was a setback,” Fleming said during the press conference.The 44-year-old has played IPL matches in the past while carrying injuries, but this time the recovery is taking longer than CSK expected.Four days ago, CSK had also shared a video on social media where captain Ruturaj Gaikwad explained what happened before the season.“You know, we were playing a practice match. That’s when he snapped his calf and then he wasn’t able to run as comfortably as he wanted to,” he said.“And I think after that, it was just about, he saw some of the youngsters playing in practice games and playing in match simulations where he felt confident enough on them, you know, who are ready, who have that ability to play in the IPL.”“After that, it was just about taking time on his recovery. Slowly, slowly, he is getting there. Never know, maybe next game, maybe after that, but definitely one day for sure.”CSK are currently sixth on the IPL 2026 points table after eight matches, with three wins and five losses.They have six league matches left this season, and their next game will be at home against Mumbai Indians on May 2.

Gujarat Titans notched a comprehensive win over Chennai Super Kings in their IPL game on Sunday but captain Shubman Gill admitted that “finishing an innings” has been a problem and his side will need to improve on that aspect of the game going ahead. GT beat CSK by eight wickets, overhauling the target of 159 with 20 balls to spare. Opening batter Sai Sudharsan hit 87 off 46 balls while Gill and Jos Buttler chipped in with 33 and 39 not out respectively. “Very happy to get a win like that in this part of India. Apart from the last four or five overs, it was a complete performance,” Gill said at the post-match presentation. “If I have to be critical, finishing an innings has been a problem. We need to do better in that.”

Gill said he was a little confused whether to bowl or bat when he won the toss. Eventually, he asked CSK to bat first, which turned out to be the right decision, as GT restricted the home side to 158 for 7.

Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the GT bowlers with fine figures of 3/25, for which he was named Player of the Match.

“But we bowled well in the powerplay.” On star leg-spinner Rashid Khan being given just one over, Gill said, “There was confusion in the middle. When Dube came in, I thought should we bowl Washy (Washington Sundar), but the game was in our hand. He (Manav Suthar) bowled a decent last over, gave 12 or 13. Pretty good effort from us.”

Gill also praised Sudharsan for his brilliant batting.

“It (form) was always with him. It was all about spending the time at the crease.” Sudharsan, who hails from Chennai, said he got confidence from the last knock (100 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru).

“I just wanted to take the confidence from the last innings to this innings. I felt the pitch slightly got better but first six overs, it was tough. Shubi (Shubman Gill) played an extraordinary cameo.

“When I am hitting the ball well, then I play late,” he said, adding that he will go to his favourite tea shop and have ‘bun maska and chai’ there.

Rabada said he felt he didn’t start well but went on to grab three wickets in the match.

“That’s how cricket goes. I am glad to play a part to take the team across the line. We needed the two points. The team is clicking,” said the South African pacer.

Asked how kept himself ahead of the game, Rabada said, “It’s just not taking anything for granted. Sticking with your process and always looking to improve. The day that you stop looking to improve is the day that you retire.”

On the combination with Mohamed Siraj and other seamers, he said, “Yeah, a lot of fast bowlers, that’s been a clear tactic of Gujarat over the years, playing at Ahmedabad. So it’s nice to see the fast bowlers union coming together and it’s been working thus far.

“I think we’ve been taking a lot of wickets, but at the same time, we need to find ways to contain too. So it’s been a really lovely journey that we’ve had so far.” CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad rued his side lost too many wickets and it was difficult to play some shots on the Chepauk pitch.

“Sometimes I hate to assess this way but it was challenging in the first innings. It was holding for the medium pacers and the bounce was up and down. We lost too many wickets but it was difficult to play some shots.” Asked about the pitch, he said, “Not expected. It is hard to assess how it plays. This game we didn’t have any idea. By the time, we wanted to adapt it was too late.

“At the first timeout, when Flem (Stephen Fleming) came out, I told him I am trying to attack but it was tough. There was more bounce, or less bounce, and I told him I am trying to change. It just did not come good. It was just an off day and even on the field we were lethargic.” On his innings of 74 off 60 balls, he said, “I got off to a really good start, and then I thought to keep up the momentum. But after the wickets fell, I though to build a partnership. I then just wanted to take my time and rotate the strike.

“Any other pitch, any other day, I would have rotated the strike. Once I got hit, I just thought let’s keep going.”

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