Zhang Anda played Ahmed Aseeri at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship (Image: Getty)
Zhang Anda was powering towards what would have been an historic 167 break when an unusual technical fault struck at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.
The 32-year-old was building an impressive break against Saudi wildcard Ahmed Aseeri on Wednesday – the opening day of the event – when the lights in the arena began to turn on and off. It went completely dark for around half an hour at one point in the first frame, forcing Zhang to take a break on 72.
And he struggled to get back into the groove after that disruption, breaking down on 97 and falling short of a feat which would have brought the house down. Zhang and the spectators in Riyadh will never know whether, without the distractions of the technical fault, he would have gone on to make history.
The snooker stars competing at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship are, alongside trying to win the title, gunning to become the first player in history to pot the ‘golden ball’, which only becomes active after a maximum 147 break.
Whichever player manages it first will bank a massive $1million (£790,000) bonus.
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