‘Next year I’ll get it’ – Ronnie O’Sullivan eyes ‘golden ball’ bonus as prize doubles to $1 million

It has not yet been officially confirmed that the Riyadh Season World Masters will return for the 2024-25 snooker season – but if it does it will come with a change.

The tournament introduced the ‘golden ball’ which was placed on the top cushion at the start of the frame.

Now tournament organiser HE Turki Al Alshaikh, the chairman of the General Authority for Entertainment, has said that the prize money for next year’s edition will be doubled.

“And second thing, in Saudi Arabia we are honoured to discuss with O’Sullivan to have an academy in his name.”

In the provisional calendar for next season the tournament hasn’t been included but players have been vocal about wanting it to return.

Hearing about the doubled prize pot for the golden ball, O’Sullivan said he was coming for it next year.

“I’ll get that next year. Tournament this year, golden ball next year, you don’t want to take it all at once,” he said.

The seven-time world champion was also full of praise for the organisation of the tournament.

“All the players have enjoyed it, the hospitality has been fantastic the culture and hospitality,” he said.

“These are the tournaments you really want to play in, one table, great crowd with a great atmosphere. Music was going in between frames like we was in some sort of rave, going 25 years back when I was young. I think the whole crowd have enjoyed it, made it a bit more lively, there’s people outside milling about enjoying themselves It feels like a really nice festival.

“You want to try to make the sport as big as you can and coming to places like this, Saudi is a powerhouse. If anyone can inject something into snooker it’s the people who put the tournament this week so hopefully they’ve enjoyed it, the crowds have enjoyed it, we’ve certainly enjoyed it, so hopefully they’ll be a 10-year contract on the table tomorrow.”