Shaun Murphy makes $1m bonus prediction after multiple 167 breaks in practice

Shaun Murphy is sure someone will land the $1m bonus for the golden ball break at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship this week – making 20-30 167s breaks in practice ahead of the event.

The invitational 12-player event takes place in Saudi Arabia this week from November 19-21 and features the unique golden ball.

The added ball is on the baulk cushion and remains there as long as a player can make a 147 in a frame.

If a player makes a 147, they can then pot the golden ball, worth an extra 20 points, to make a record 167 break and earn themselves a $1m (£760,000) bonus.

As soon as a 147 is no longer possible in a frame, the golden ball is removed from the table and takes its place on a little cushion.

This week will be the third edition of the tournament and we are yet to have a 167 break, but Murphy thinks that will change this time round.

The reigning Masters champion has been working on getting from the final black to the added ball in baulk and has been pulling it off regularly in practice.

Although, of course, there is not $1m on the line in Murphy’s snooker room at his house.

‘I’ve been practising it a lot, I have to say,’ Murphy told Metro. ‘I’ve been practising how to get from a black to the golden ball. I’ve been practising where and how and when and why would you move the golden ball.

‘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. This week I must have made probably 20 or 30 167s in the house. So it can be done.

‘I think it’s going to go this week. 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.’

Seen as the top prize for winning the tournament is £250,000, the 167 prize puts players in the strange situation of that break being more of a focus than winning a match.

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

Not only is the huge bonus an encouragement, but with 14 147s already being made this season – with 15 the record for an entire campaign – the Magician feels a 167 is incoming.

‘I’m a certain as it can be that it’ll go this week,’ he said. ‘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.’

The field in Riyadh features the top 10 in the world rankings and two Saudi wildcards. Murphy takes on one of the local players, Ziyad Alqabbani, in round one, while Ding Junhui faces the other, Ayman Alamri.

The closest anyone has come to the 167 break so far was John Higgins in March 2024 in the opening frame against Mark Williams, but broke down on the yellow after making 120.

A $1m bonus would do very nicely to cheer Murphy up after Champion of Champions disappointment last week when he lost his opener to Lei Peifan.

The 43-year-old criticised the scheduling of the tournament, which started in Leicester the day after the International Championship finishing in Nanjing on Sunday.

Murphy was first to play his group game on Monday after losing his quarter-final in Nanjing the previous Thursday. As the other three groups featured players who reached the semi-finals of the International Championship, the Magician drew the short straw.

The groups were seeded and so could not be manipulated to be more convenient for scheduling, but Murphy – who described the situation as ‘despicable’ – questions why this has to be the case.

‘I had a couple of very honest conversations with [Matchroom Multi sport CEO] Emily Frazer and a conversation with [WST chairman] Steve Dawson and I have to say they were both very reasonable,’ he said. ‘They were both very understanding of my situation.

‘It’s okay for us to differ on things and it’s okay to have an exchange of views. As far as I’m concerned it was a very frustrating situation that got resolved as best as it possibly could. In the end, we talked about it and we shake hands and we move on.

‘My point was, which perhaps didn’t come over on the on-screen interview, the event is seeded and I understand that made the problem. But there’s no reason for it to be seeded. There’s no reason why they had to do that.

‘If it’s an unseeded invitation event, with no effect on the rankings or anyone’s position in the game, then the three players who weren’t in China should have gone on first on the Monday.

‘That was my point. I understand that it’s seeded, I totally understand that, but there’s absolutely no reason why it was seeded. You’ve made it complicated where it didn’t need to be.’