O’Sullivan confirms where the golden ball will be at the Riyadh World Masters of Snooker

Sports

RONNIE O’SULLIVAN appears to have confirmed where the controversial golden ball will be placed ahead of the Riyadh World Masters of Snooker.

O’Sullivan, Luca Brecel and Mark Allen are among those battling it out with an £800,000 prize pool up for grabs when the promotion kicks off today.

Ronnie O’Sullivan has confirmed where the new golden ball will be locatedCredit: Getty

He has shared a clip of himself practicing ahead of the Riyadh Season World Masters of SnookerCredit: X @ronnieo147

The build-up has attracted a lot of criticism after the introduction of a golden ball, which will be worth 20 points, which can be used to make a break of 167.

Any player who achieves a “miracle” 167 break will receive a mega cash bonus of £400,000, but this unique achievement is NOT eligible to be noted as a world record.

The days leading up to the launch were chaos, as full details of the new gimmick were not released until Saturday afternoon.

Each frame starts with the Golden Ball on the barrier pad at the brown spot. If a player accidentally pots or hits the Golden Ball early in the frame before hitting the object ball, a four-point foul will result.

The new ball remains on the table as long as it is possible for a player to make a 147. If a maximum is no longer possible, the Golden Ball is removed by the referee until the next frame.

No O’Sullivan has confirmed it will start on the barrier pad as he shared a clip of him practicing on the table, which showed the position of the new ball.

O’Sullivan, who captioned the video with the words “getting ready”, will face Mark Williams, John Higgins or Ali Alobaidii tomorrow after receiving an immediate bye into the quarter-finals.

Despite the big money offered for the 167 break, it is not officially recognized as an additional 23rd ball with such a point value is not in the rule book.

BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS

And Saudi organizers were accused of “making it up as they went along” after another major change on the eve of the controversial tournaments.

It was originally going to be eight of the world’s top snooker stars, plus two Middle Eastern wildcards heading to the Middle East for the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker from March 4 to 6.

Did you notice the huge blunder at the Snooker Players Championship when winner Mark Allen received his medal?

But at the last minute, two more names were added to the line-up. Chinese star Ding Junhui, 36, and Scottish icon John Higgins, 48, were announced as part of the ‘extensive’ event.

Meanwhile, the legendary O’Sullivan said he was only interested in the prize money on offer for a 167 break.

When asked about it last week, he said: “What’s the price for a 167? Did they announce it?

“I’m sure it will be a hefty price. Listen, the Saudis can just do whatever they want.

“They are a powerful outfit. Every other sport seems to be doing stuff in Saudi Arabia, so it will be great to go out there.