Mark Allen beats Ronnie O’Sullivan en route to Riyadh Season Snooker Championship win and £250,000 | Snooker news

Mark Allen earns joint-highest career payday by winning Riyadh Season Snooker Championship; Northern Irishman earns £250,000 for beating Luca Brecel in final; Allen defeats Ronnie O’Sullivan in the semi-finals leaving the ‘Rocket’ still waiting for a first title in 2024/25.

Mark Allen won the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship

Mark Allen won his first title in the 2024/25 season. winning the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, defeating 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 the semi-finals of the British Open, UK Championship, Scottish Open and Champion of Champions.

The Northern Irishman beat four-time world champion Mark Selby 4-2 in the quarter-finals in Riyadh and bounced back a day later to see off seven-time Crucible king O’Sullivan by the same scoreline.

He then beat 2023 world champion Brecel 5-1 in the final after losing the first frame, blazing two centuries and a break of 50 to earn the joint-highest salary of his career.

Allen also won £250,000 after winning the UK Championship in York 2022.

The golden ball remains unused during the tournament

No player at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship was able to win the golden ball and earn $1 million for a break of 167, which is unique for the event in Saudi Arabia.

Players can only sink the golden ball after the 147-rule break ends, but the closest to the maximum was China’s Zhang Anda, who went down after 12 red and black on the first day.

Champion Allen will now aim to win the Masters at Alexandra Palace for the second time in January after previously winning the 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 reach the semi-finals of the tournament this season.

Masters Snooker 2025 schedule

The tournament takes place from January 12 to 19 at Alexandra Palace in London

First round (best of 11 frames)

Sunday, January 12

13 hours
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs John Higgins
19 hours
Shaun Murphy vs Gary Wilson

Monday, January 13

13 hours
Mark Williams vs. Ding Junhui
19 hours
Mark Selby vs. Ali Carter

Tuesday, January 14

13 hours
Judd Trump vs. Barry Hawkins
19 hours
Mark Allen vs. Si Jiahui

Wednesday, January 15

13 hours
Kyren Wilson vs. Your Zhang
19 hours
Luca Brecel vs. Chris Wakelin

Quarterfinals (best of 11 frames)

O’Sullivan/Higgins v Murphy/G Wilson
Allen/Si vs. Selby/Carter
Trump/Hawkins vs Williams/Ding
Brecel/Wakelin vs K Wilson/Zhang

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