John Higgins falls short in historic 167 ‘golden ball’ break bid at Riyadh Masters – and misses out on £395,000 windfall – after drinks being served to the Saudi crowd distracted him on crucial shot

Snooker star John Higgins agonizingly missed out on a £395,000 windfall for becoming the first player to break 167 at the Riyadh Season World Masters.

Four-time world champion Higgins, 48, had holed 15 reds and 15 blacks during his second-round match against Mark Williams.

That put him on track to reach the maximum of 147 and, under the rules of this tournament, the chance to get a golden ball worth 20 extra points.

But Higgins saw his hopes of a £395,000 prize disappear when he overtook his approach to the yellow, distracted by crowd movement as he lined up the black beforehand.

Footage from Eurosport showed people serving refreshments among the crowd in Saudi Arabia, putting themselves in Higgins’ line of sight as he prepared to take a shot.

‘Oh no, there are people walking in John’s line of sight. That’s the last thing he needs,” said Eurosport commentator Dominic Dale.

The gold ball is placed in the middle of the rocker cushion and can only be placed in the pot after the final black ball has been sunk.

When the possibility of a maximum break ends, the ball is removed from the table and placed on a cushion at the side of the arena.

Higgins later admitted that he began to feel nervous as the break progressed.

‘I couldn’t really feel my feet, my arms and my legs. I walked past Mark and he said, ‘Listen, I never get nervous, but my palms were sweaty watching you try to make that break!'” Higgins said. Eurosport.

‘It’s an incredible feeling, but disappointing. I think in the back of my mind, pink wasn’t good, so that was on my mind the whole break, but I tried.

‘I was gone! She was just thinking about happy things.

The failure of the opening 167 frame attempt did not distract Higgins for long as he beat Williams 4-2 to qualify for the quarter-finals with Ronnie O’Sullivan on Tuesday.