Ronnie O'Sullivan has revealed he is more interested in what the prize for a '167 break' will be, rather than the merits of Saudi Arabia introducing it in the first place.
Saudi will host the inaugural Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker between March 4-6, with O'Sullivan, Judd Trump and Luca Brecel among the 10 players set to feature at the tournament. Normal World Snooker Tour rules will apply during each match, apart from a new feature which is expected to be added.
A 23rd ball, known as the Riyadh Season ball, will be added in and is worth 20 points. But the gold ball cannot be potted until every other ball has been potted and the player is on a maximum break. That would take it from a 147 to a 167, making it the highest ever potential break in snooker history.
When quizzed on the tournament in Saudi Arabia, O'Sullivan 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."
In a statement released by World Snooker Tour last week, HE Advisor Turki Alalshikh said: "We are thrilled to be hosting our first-ever professional snooker tournament in the Kingdom. Snooker is watched and played by millions around the world and we look forward to welcoming some of the greatest players and snooker fans to our country and showing them what Saudi Arabia and Riyadh Season has to offer."
It has been an excellent start to 2024 for O'Sullivan, who was crowned the World Grand Prix champion in Leicester to add to his Masters success earlier this month. On Sunday, the 48-year-old came from 4-0 down to beat Judd Trump 10-7 in a thrilling final at Morningside Arena.
Speaking after his victory over Trump, O'Sullivan told ITV4: "I enjoyed that. The start of the week, I was feeling a bit rough and then I bought myself an air fryer and a smoothie maker. I started eating a bit better.
"I don't like eating junk food, it sort of puts me in a funny place. I started to feel better as the week went on. I played some of my best snooker ever against Ding Junhui [in the semi-final]."
O'Sullivan booked his place in the World Open in China after beating Alfie Burden 5-3 on Tuesday.
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