Zhang Anda was powering towards what would have been an historic 167 break when an unusual technical fault struck at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.
The 32-year-old was building an impressive break against Saudi wildcard Ahmed Aseeri on Wednesday – the opening day of the event – when the lights in the arena began to malfunction. It went completely dark for around half an hour at one point in the first frame, forcing Zhang to take a break on 72.
And he struggled to get back into the groove after that disruption, breaking down on 97 and falling short of a feat which would have brought the house down. Zhang and the spectators in Riyadh will never know whether, without the distractions of the technical fault, he would have gone on to make history.
The snooker stars competing at the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship are, alongside trying to win the title, gunning to become the first player in history to pot the ‘golden ball’, which only becomes active after a maximum 147 break. Whichever player manages it first will bank a massive $1million (£790,000) bonus.
Zhang brushed off his disappointment by winning the first two frames and putting together another promising break in the third. He fell short again, however, this time on 64 and with no technical fault to blame.
Nevertheless, it was still a handsome 4-0 win for the world No. 10, who could not hide his regret at coming within vague striking distance of the coveted Saudi bonus.
“[I am] a little bit disappointed I missed two chances to make the 167,” he told DAZN. “I had chances. I do feel a little bit disappointed.”
Zhang also reflected on what he was thinking when coming back to the table after the half-an-hour lights stoppage, saying: “Just concentrate again and don’t think about the light, just concentrate on every shot.”
The Chinese star will get another chance to win the £790k prize when he plays Luca Brecel this evening (Wednesday). Zhang’s compatriot, Ding Junhui, also got his Saudi campaign off to a successul start by beating wildcard entry Abdulraouf Sayegh 4-0.
Ding then kicked on with an impressive whitewash of world No. 7 Shaun Murphy in the second round.
