RONNIE O’SULLIVAN will headline a stunning new snooker tournament.
The tournament will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between March 4-7.
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O’Sullivan, who became the oldest Masters winner by beating Ali Carter 10-7, will be joined by 2019 Snooker World Champion Judd Trump and current holder Luca Brecel in the tournament.
The event is a first for Saudia Arabia, with the invitational event seeing eight of the world’s best players and two wildcards compete for a £787,000 ($1million) prize pool.
While much of this is no different from any run-of-the-mil snooker competition, with games also set to be played under World Snooker rules and regulations, there is a twist.
A new 23rd golden ball will be added to the game worth 20 points.
A World Masters of Snooker statement said: “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.
“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.”
Steve Dawson, Chairman of the World Snooker Tour, added: “It is a great privilege for the World Snooker Tour to work in partnership with HE Advisor Turki Alalshikh to stage an event in Saudi Arabia for the first time.
“This is a huge breakthrough for snooker into new territory, and we see this as the beginning of a new adventure for our sport in the region.
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“We are looking forward to being a part of Riyadh Season on this fantastic new event featuring the world’s best players.
“We will be honoured to bring our sport to the amazing city of Riyadh, and for the local fans this will be their first chance to see some of snooker’s all-time greats.”
Following his Masters win at Alexandra Palace, 48-year-old O’Sullivan said he would be taking a two-month break from snooker.
He said: “I’m a bit played-out, to be honest with you.
“I had such a strong push September-October-November-December, I really went hard at every tournament.
“I look at the first four months as the main part of my season. I put everything into that and I did better than I thought I would do.
“Subconsciously you think, I was quite content with that. It’s hard to keep motivating yourself. It really is. This game is too hard.
“I’m going to take two months off now. I’ll probably just play next week because it’s 32 players. I’ve earned my way to get in that tournament.
“But I’ll just swerve all the other tournaments now. I feel like I want a break.
“I’m looking forward to getting on the exhibition circuit, start playing more exhibitions, I enjoy them, they’re a bit of fun.
“Too much intense snooker for me is not good. I need to back off and consolidate and get some fun in the game so the exhibitions will be good.
“I’ve got a busy March, May, June, July so I don’t want to be fatigued going into that.
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“I’ve had a great season, even if I’d just won the Shanghai Masters I’ve had a great season. I took the UK and nicked this one as well so I’ve had an amazing season.”
But before that, the Rocket may face punishment as snooker chiefs investigate his and Carter’s “snotgate” row after Carter, 44, accused O’Sullivan of “snotting all over the floor”.
