O’Sullivan confirmed for Saudi tournament, but still has to practice with bizarre rule
EIGHT STARS have been confirmed to fly to Saudi Arabia next week – but they still have to practice with the ‘Golden Ball’.
The first Riyadh season World Masters of Snooker will be held from March 4 to 6 and will have a pool pot of £789,000.
The World Snooker Tour field will feature reigning world champion Luca Brecel, world number 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Allen, Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy, Mark Williams and Ali Carter.
There will be two local wildcards involved in the 10-man invitational event which will be shown in Britain on Eurosport.
On Monday evening, seeds seven (Williams) and eight 8 (Carter) will play the two local boys, with the winners progressing to the best-of-seven frames quarter-finals.
The final is best of nine frames.
A controversial 20-point Golden Ball will come into play once someone accumulates a maximum break of 147 – meaning a world record 167 break is possible.
Details about the prize money and where the extra 23rd ball will be placed on the table will be announced in the coming days.
One player has told SunSport that it can be placed in the center of the barrier pad, which would make the feat “difficult” to accomplish.
It is believed that the cueists have not had a chance to practice with the ball and that will happen when they arrive in the Middle East.
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O’Sullivan was on a 16-game winning streak before he was brutally dismantled by Selby in the Players Championship last week.
The Leicester star scored breaks of 105, 91, 81, 65 and 59 in the Telford quarter-finals.
Allen was ultimately crowned the winner of the tournament after defeating Zhang Anda in a grueling final.