The golden ball is part of the Riyadh Season Snooker Masters (Image: X/World Snooker Tour)
The Riyadh Season Snooker Championship is set to return and, with it, so too has the tournament’s ‘golden ball’. Keen to add further excitement to their competition, Saudi Arabian officials included a new rule for the inaugural event earlier this year.
Adding a gold ball worth 20 points meant that players were able to score maximum breaks of 167. That is different to the traditional maximum break in snooker of 147.
The incentive for potting the new maximum break was an eye-watering £390,000 ($500k) prize pot. But despite Barry Hawkins going incredibly close, failing on a difficult yellow, nobody walked away with the money.
That prompted Turki Alalshikh, the chairman of Saudi Arabia’s entertainment authority, to double the money on offer. The first player to pot the new maximum break will win an incredible £790k ($1million).
But how does the golden ball rule work? Express Sport brings you all the answers…
Where is the gold ball on the table?
Each frame will begin with the new golden ball on the baulk cushion, level with the brown spot. It stays on the table for as long as a player can make a 147 break and is then removed once that maximum is no longer possible until the next frame.
How many points is it worth?
The golden ball is worth an astonishing 20 points, meaning a maximum break will now be worth 167. Potting the 23rd ball will see a player make history with a record break of 167, which has obviously never been repeated before as it is the first competition in which the new ball is in use. Players will earn £790k for potting it, much more than the £250k for winning the tournament.
Ronnie O’Sullivan will want to hit a maximum 167 break (Image: Getty)
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Can players foul on the golden ball?
If a player accidentally hits the golden ball before the object ball, or pots the 20-point ball early in the frame they will be awarded a four-point foul. There is debate over whether a 167 break will be recognised in the official records, as an extra ball worth 20 points is not in the rule book and may not be acknowledged as the new maximum break.
What would Ronnie O’Sullivan spend the money on?
O’Sullivan failed to pot the maximum break last time but is eyeing the prize this year. Asked by the World Snooker Tour how he would spend the money, the Rocket laughed and responded: “I couldn’t spend a million dollars. [Maybe] a school.”