Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker: Ronnie O’Sullivan beats Luca Brecel in final

Ronnie O’Sullivan won the inaugural Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker by beating Luca Brecel 5-2 in the final.

The score was 2-2 at the interval, with O’Sullivan making breaks of 95 and 94 and Brecel an 81.

A break of 121 put O’Sullivan 3-2 up and he also took the next frame before a 124 secured victory and the £250,000 top prize for the 48-year-old.

“It’s been a fantastic tournament, brilliant venue,” said O’Sullivan.

“These are the tournaments you want to play in – one table, great crowd, great atmosphere and the music was going inbetween the frames.

“It was like we were in some sort of rave.”

The semi-finals took place on the same day as the final and O’Sullivan booked his place in the final courtesy of a 4-1 win against Judd Trump, while Brecel beat Mark Allen 4-2.

The tournament in Saudi Arabia included a golden ball – worth 20 points – which was placed on the top cushion throughout a frame for as long as a player could still complete the maximum break and was removed when the opportunity is over.

John Higgins came close to becoming the first player to compile a 167 break – and win £395,000 – when he converted 15 reds and blacks but overhit his approach to the yellow in his second round win against Mark Williams.

The prize for achieving a 167 break will be doubled at the next staging of the event.

“I’ll get the golden ball next year. I didn’t want to take it all at once,” said O’Sullivan.

“I’ll take the tournament this year and then the golden ball next year. It’ll be great.”