Shaun Murphy makes bold prize money admission ahead of £1m tournament

Shaun Murphy has made an admission about the prize money up for grabs at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship this week.

Shaun Murphy has confessed he’d happily accept a first-round defeat at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship if it meant achieving the lucrative golden ball break. The Masters champion faces teenage wildcard Ziyad Alqabbani in his opening match on Wednesday.

Now in its third year, the Saudi Arabian tournament introduces a golden ball to the table while a 147 break remains achievable. Any player completing a maximum break then gets the opportunity to pot the golden ball for a record-breaking 167.

A staggering £760,000 ($1m) prize awaits anyone who manages a golden ball break. Controversially, this is significantly more than the £250,000 awarded to the tournament champion, though players could potentially walk away with a combined £1million in prize money.

Murphy has admitted that the substantial rewards for achieving a 167 have created an unusual sporting scenario. “I think it’s going to go this week,” Murphy told the Metro. “I think someone will do it and jeez, I’d love it to be me, I have to say. I’m definitely motivated to do it. I’ll be going for it. No question about that.

“Would you be happy making the 167 and losing in the first round?” Murphy asked. “Yes! We just couldn’t say that anywhere else.”

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Murphy makes his return at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship after his opening loss to Lei Peifan at the Champion of Champions earlier this month. However, the 43-year-old has spent his time away from competition concentrating on producing the first-ever 167 break.

“I’ve been using the days since my Champion of Champions exit to find the best route round the table to a ball stuck on the baulk cushion,” Murphy admitted. “This week I must have made probably 20 or 30 167s in the house. So it can be done.”

He added: “I’m as certain as I can be that it’ll go this week. We’ve seen more 147s this season than ever [at this stage]. It feels like everyone’s knocking 147s in.

“You’d feel almost a bit short-changed if the top 10 players on the planet didn’t have a crack at it somewhere along the line. And with a prize like a million dollars, everyone’s very aware and motivated by it.”

A total 14 maximum breaks have already been recorded this campaign, just one shy of the all-time mark. The Riyadh Season Snooker Championship features 12 players.

The tournament consists of the world’s elite top 10 and two local wildcard entries, including Murphy’s 15-year-old opponent Alqabbani. The winner of Murphy’s opening round clash will then go head-to-head with Ronnie O’Sullivan on Wednesday.

Mark Allen returns as defending champion following his triumph over Luca Brecel last year. O’Sullivan was the inaugural winner of the event.

The three-day competition sees all four quarter-final ties contested on Thursday, before the semi-finals and final take place on Friday, November 21.