Snooker star spills beans on where 'golden ball' will be placed in Saudi event

29 February 2024 , 08:28

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A golden ball will be used in the upcoming Saudi Arabia invitational event (Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Snooker star Mark Allen appears to have confirmed where the 'golden ball' will sit during the controversial Saudi Arabia invitational.

The Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker will be held in the Saudi capital Riyadh over 4-6 March and will feature 10 of the best players in the world, including the likes of Allen, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Luca Brecel, with a prize pool of £800,000.

It will be no ordinary event though, with the sport's bosses introducing a 23rd ball to the table. The golden ball will be worth 20 points and can be used to make a break of 167.

“Each game will be played under World Snooker rules and regulations but with the introduction of an innovative new concept, a 23rd ball known as the Riyadh Season ball,” The World Snooker Tour said in a statement.

“This gold ball will be worth 20 points and can only be potted once all other balls have been successfully cleared from the table if a player is on a maximum break to make it 167.”

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Exact details on where the ball will be placed, if it will be available throughout the frame or if it will only be introduced after a maximum 147 break has been completed have been few and far between.

But Allen, who has won 11 ranking tournaments over his career, has now dropped a hint on how it will be used. He revealed the golden ball will be in from the start of play and only removed once a 147 is no longer possible.

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Mark Allen has hinted where exactly the ball will be placed (Getty Images)

Allen wrote on Instagram : "We've been told it's going in the middle of the baulk cushion. It will be removed once a 147 is no longer possible in a frame. If moved legally during the frame, it stays where it finishes."

It would be a rare feat if a 167 is hit, with fewer than 200 official 147 breaks having been hit in the entire history of the sport. It is not the highest break offered in the sport's history though.

Back in 1959, a short-lived experiment saw the introduction of a ‘Snooker Plus’ tournament, which included two additional colours, an orange ball worth eight points and a purple worth 10, which raised the theoretically available maximum to 210.

Other players seem less enthusiastic about the gimmick, with O'Sullivan only interested in the prize money offered for a 167 break. He said: "What's the prize for a 167? Have they announced it?

"I'm sure that it will be a hefty prize. Listen, the Saudis can just do what they like. They are a powerful outfit. Every other sport seems to be doing stuff in Saudi, so it will be great to go out there."

Jacob Leeks