Ronnie O’Sullivan could be set for $1m Christmas present as ‘Golden Ball’ Riyadh Season Snooker Championship announced

9 hours ago 4

SNOOKER’S top stars are set to return to Saudi Arabia later this year in search of a lucrative Christmas payday.

The top 10 players in the world will be invited to compete at the 2024 Riyadh Season Snooker Championship between December 18-20.

a man standing next to a trophy that says mrq on it

Ronnie O’Sullivan is set to compete in Saudi Arabia later this year[/caption]

The event is set to be staged at Riyadh’s Boulevard City and will possess a unique feature.

Each match at the tournament will have a “gold ball” – which only after a 147 break can be potted for 20 points… and a huge cash bonus.

Riyadh Season hosted their inaugural event back in March following an agreement between the World Snooker Tour (WST) and Turki Alalshikh.

The event was won by Ronnie O’Sullivan, with the Rocket defeating Luca Brecel 5-2 in the final to take home the £250,000 prize.

Despite the $500,000 (£386,000) bonus prize on offer, nobody managed to pot the golden ball during the three-day tournament.

Turki Alalshikh vowed to double the golden prize to $1million (£770,000) next time around, which coupled with winning the event would bag a player more than £1million.

O’Sullivan joked at the time: “I’ll get [the golden ball] next year – you don’t want to get it all at once.

“I thought I’d win the tournament this year and get the golden ball next year.”

The 10 players to compete in the event will be determined by the rankings on December 1.

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With three counting events to go before the cut-off, today’s announcement has created a “Race to Riyadh”.

On the upcoming event, Turki Alalshikh said: “We are looking forward to hosting the next Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, after the great success of our first event earlier this year.

“The interest in snooker is only getting bigger in Saudi Arabia. The fans love to have the best players around the world here and we are excited to have them return in December.”

WST Chairman Steve Dawson then added: “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with HE Turki Alalshikh and to stage this event as part of the fabulous Riyadh Season for the second time in 2024.

“This year we have made huge strides forward in our development in Saudi Arabia and it is exciting to see snooker growing so fast in this region and attracting a new audience.

“There is huge motivation for the players over the next few weeks to climb into the top ten and guarantee a place in the field at what will be a fantastic three days of the highest quality action.

“We would love to see one of them pot the Gold Ball and make history!”