A bizarre power outage disrupted what could have been a historic moment in snooker at the Riyadh Season Championship, as China’s Zhang Anda saw his attempt at an unprecedented 167 break interrupted when the lights went out at Boulevard City.
The unusual scenes unfolded on the opening day of the Saudi Arabian tournament, with Zhang at the table during a potentially record-breaking visit.
The tournament features a unique scoring opportunity with a special golden ball worth 20 points, which can only be potted after a player completes a maximum break of 147.
This creates the possibility of achieving an unprecedented 167 break, with a lucrative $1 million bonus prize awaiting the first player to accomplish this feat.
Zhang Anda could only laugh as lights affected his big break
DAZN
The substantial reward has made the special break attempt a priority for all competitors in this week’s tournament.
Zhang’s first attempt at the historic break was repeatedly interrupted as the venue’s lights flickered on and off during the opening frame against Saudi wildcard Ahmed Aseeri.
With Zhang on 72 points, the lights went out completely, causing a delay of around 30 minutes while technicians addressed the power supply issue.
Upon returning to the table after the extended break, Zhang’s momentum was lost, and he ultimately broke down on 97 points.
Zhang’s misfortune continued in the third frame when he mounted a second attempt at the 167 break, only to miss with the rest whilst on 64 points.
Anda Zhang was doing his best to try and stay focused
DAZN
Speaking to DAZN after the match, Zhang expressed his frustration: “Little bit disappointed I missed two chances to make the 167, I got chances. I do feel a little bit disappointed.”
When asked about his mindset after the lighting incident, he added: “Just concentrate again and don’t think about the light, just concentrate every shot.”
Despite the disappointment over the missed 167 opportunities, Zhang secured a convincing 4-0 victory against Aseeri.
But Zhang saw his tournament come to an abrupt end later in the evening as he was thrashed 4-0 by Luca Brecel.
All four matches on the opening day of the event ended in whitewashes with Ding Junhui also progressing past Shaun Murphy.
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The power failure led to a 30-minute delay
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Ronnie O’Sullivan is the defending champion for the Saudi tournament and he gets his tournament underway against Ding later this evening.
The seven-time world champion has thrown his support behind the Riyadh Snooker Championship’s golden ball initiative, but Judd Trump doesn’t feel the $1m prize is enough.
“If it was $10million I’d go all out for it. $1million is a lot of money, but it wouldn’t really change my life at the moment,” Trump said
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