Mark Allen beats Ronnie O'Sullivan en route to victory at Riyadh Season Snooker Championship and £250,000

Mark Allen earns joint-highest payday of career with victory at Riyadh Season Snooker Championship; Northern Irishman earns £250,000 for beating Luca Brecel in final; Allen defeats Ronnie O'Sullivan in semi-finals to leave 'Rocket' still waiting for first title of 2024/25

Saturday 21 December 2024 00:09, UK

Mark Allen won his first title of 2024/25 with victory at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, beating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the semi-finals before seeing off Luca Brecel to claim the £250,000 top prize.

Allen's best results this campaign before his success in Saudi Arabia were reaching the semi-finals of the British Open, UK Championship, Scottish Open and Champion of Champions.

The Northern Irishman defeated four-time world champion Mark Selby 4-2 in the quarter-finals in Riyadh and returned a day later to see off seven-time Crucible king O'Sullivan by the same score.

He then thumped 2023 world champion Brecel 5-1 in the final after losing the first frame, firing in two centuries and a break of 50 as he earned the joint-highest payday of his career.

Allen had also won £250,000 following victory at the UK Championship in York in 2022.

Golden ball remains unpotted throughout the tournament

No player at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship managed to pot the golden ball and earn $1m for a 167 break, which is unique to the event in Saudi Arabia.

Players can only sink the golden ball after completing a regulation 147 break but the closest to a maximum was China's Zhang Anda, who broke down after 12 reds and blacks on day one.

Champion Allen will now aim to win The Masters at Alexandra Palace for a second time in January having previously taken that title in 2018, defeating Kyren Wilson in the final.

O'Sullivan is the defending Masters champion, beating Ali Carter 10-7 in 2024, but is yet to make it past the semi-finals of a tournament this season.