Snooker news - Home Nations Series £1m bonus 'impossible'? Ronnie O'Sullivan, Trump, Hawkins discuss

With the Home Nations Series underway this week with the English Open - live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player - there is a bonus of £1 million on offer to any player who can win all four tournaments in the same season.

The 128-player field are competing for prize money of £366,000 and on Monday, Ronnie O'Sullivan survived a scare and fought back from two frames down to win 4-3 against Jamie O'Neill.

However, with the Northern Ireland, Scottish and Welsh Opens still to come, the challenge of winning all four has been deemed "impossible" by world champion Judd Trump and world number 10 Barry Hawkins.

"Impossible - it’s not realistic at all," Trump, who secured a first-round win over Peter Ebdon, told The Metro.

"That’s pointless," Hawkins added after overcoming Amine Amiri in the opening stage in Crawley.

World Snooker MC Allan Taylor, who also competes on the Challenge Tour, said: "you have more chance of winning the lottery."

No player since the format's inception in 2016/17 has won more than two of the titles in one season.

"Barry Hearn is a cross between Del Boy and Arthur Daley, he’s always looking for a good cheap sound bite," O’Sullivan told Eurosport when the bonus was announced, alongside the £1m prize pot for 147 breaks that has been introduced this season.

"I think this is a good way to say 20 maximums, there’s a million pound prize on offer – it’s not going to happen, but it sounds good.