RONNIE O’SULLIVAN appears to have confirmed where the controversial golden ball will be placed ahead of the Riyadh World Masters of Snooker.
O’Sullivan, Luca Brecel, and Mark Allen are among those set to battle it out with a prize pool of £800,000 up for grabs as the action gets underway today.
The build-up has attracted a lot of criticism after the introduction of a golden ball, which will be worth 20 points, that can be used to make a break of 167.
Any player that hits a “miracle” 167 break will receive a mega £400,000 cash bonus - yet the unique feat will NOT be eligible to go down as a world record.
The days before the start have been mired in chaos as the full details regarding the new gimmick were only released on Saturday afternoon.
Each frame will start with the Gold Ball on the ball abalk cushion level with the brown spot and if a player accidentally pots the Gold Ball early in the frame or hits it before hitting the object balla player can make, that will result in a four-point foul.
The new ball will remain on the table as long as it is possible for a player to make a 147, then if a maximum is no longer possible, the Gold Ball will be removed by the referee until the next frame.
Now O’Sullivan has confirmed that it will start on the baulk cushion as he shared a clip of him practising on the table showing the new ball’s position.
O'Sullivan, who captioned the video with the words “getting ready”, will face either Mark Williams, John Higgins or Ali Alobaidii tomorrow after he received a bye straight to the quarter finals.
Despite the big-money on offer for the 167 break, it won’t get acknowledged officially as an extra 23rd ball carrying such a points value is not in the rule book.
And the Saudi organisers were accused of “making it up as they go along” after another major change on the eve of the controversial tournaments.
Originally it was supposed to be eight of the planet’s best snooker stars plus two Middle Eastern wildcards heading to the Middle East for the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker between March 4 to 6.
But two more names have been added to the line-up at the last-minute With Chinese star Ding Junhui, 36, and Scottish icon John Higgins, 48, announced as part of the “expanded” event.
Meanwhile, the legendary O’Sullivan said that he was only interested in the prize money on offer for a 167 break.
When asked about it last week, 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.”
