Maximum break

Judd Trump finished the final on the colors with the last black for the maximum break at the German Masters 2015 .

A maximum break , often just a maximum , is a specialty of the snooker billiard variant . It comes about when neither player has previously punched a ball and the player who is “on the break” punches all balls one after the other in the order according to the rules and fifteen times in the combination “red-black” without a miss or foul the maximum score of 147 points is achieved.

In 1982, the six-time world champion Steve Davis played the first officially recognized maximum break in a professional tournament, after numerous - partly unrecognized - further maximum breaks had been played outside of professional tournaments since 1934. In the following decades the number of maximum breaks rose to 157 by 2020, with the Englishman Ronnie O'Sullivan achieving the most maximum breaks with fifteen.

Emergence

Creation of a maximum break

Maximum breaks in "normal" snooker

In snooker, the term “ break ” is used to describe balls with holes in a row. A break ends as soon as a hole attempt fails or there is no more ball on the table (" clearance "). A kind of subdivision takes place from a break of 100 or more points, from this limit a break is called a " century break ".

A maximum break is the highest possible break that can be played with the balls lying on the snooker table within a single frame , with the exception of the 16 reds clearance. The prerequisite for this is that no ball has been punched at the beginning of the break and that all balls are therefore on the table. To achieve this, a black ball worth seven points must be played for each of the fifteen red balls with the value of one point. If all reds are off the table, all colors in the endgame must also be punched with a total of 27 points so that at the end of the frame one player has achieved a maximum break. A maximum break is always considered an outstanding performance by a player and is rewarded accordingly .

16 Reds clearance special case

Jamie Burnett ( 2014 )

With a freeball at the beginning of the break, an even higher score than 147 can be achieved. You get such a freeball when the white ball snookered onto all red balls after a foul by the opponent . Thus, the now snookered player can nominate any ball as a “substitute red”. If he manages a total clearance out of this situation, it is called a 16 reds clearance , since together with the freeball a total of 16 instead of the usual 15 red balls are pocketed. The player can get eight additional points with the freeball, provided he pits black (seven points) for the substitute red (one point). If he then punches the full 147 points on the table, this results in a 155 break, which represents a maximum break by punching the maximum possible points. Englishman Jamie Cope played such a 155 break during a training game in the summer of 2005.

A year earlier, the Scot Jamie Burnett played a 148 break during his qualifier against Leo Fernandez for the UK Championship , which is still the highest break in professional snooker. It was based on a freeball, for which Burnett nominated the brown ball as a substitute red and also played brown (four points) as the corresponding color. Then he then punched all fifteen reds, playing twelve times black (eight points each with a red), twice pink (each seven points with a red) and once blue (six points with red) before he played the colors with the endgame completed his 148 break. For the reason that black was not always played with the (substitute) reds, i.e. the maximum possible number of points was not punched, it is officially not considered a maximum break, although it is the only officially recognized break with a score higher than 147. Burnett played a regular maximum break three years later in qualifying for the Grand Prix .

Maximum breaks in different snooker variants

There are also maximum breaks in the numerous variants of snooker. With the Snooker Plus variant co-developed by Joe Davis , a maximum break of 210 points can be achieved, because in addition to the normal balls there is an orange ball worth eight points and a purple ball worth ten points.

In six red snooker , which is played with only six instead of fifteen red balls, a maximum break worth 75 points can be played. With a freeball this score can be increased to 83, which the Egyptian Wael Talaat achieved at the IBSF 6 Red Snooker World Championship in 2014 .

In power snooker - where there are additional rules in addition to the nine reds - a maximum break of 99 points would be possible. But since there are two more changes with the Power Ball and the Power Zone , which can bring additional points, there is a significantly higher maximum break. If the Power Ball is the first red to be punched and from this point all balls from the Power Zone (= the area behind the D) are punched within two minutes , a maximum break of 393 points would theoretically be possible (one point for the Power Ball + 4 × 7 points for the first black + 8 × 32 for the remaining red + black + 4 × 27 for the end game on the colors = 393 points).

A maximum break of 107 points would be possible in both the snooker pool and ten red snooker , which are both played with ten reds each, but on different tables.

history

Beginnings in the amateur field

Record world champion and player of a maximum break: Joe Davis (ca.1920)

At the beginning of the 20th century, the maximum break was generally considered unplayable. This changed when the New Zealander Edward James O'Donoghue on 26 September 1934, Griffith in the Australian state of New South Wales , the first maximum break played, followed by the Canadians Leo Levitt in November 1948. The first officially recognized maximum break played world champion Joe Davis on January 22, 1955 during a free game at Leicester Square Hall , London , recognition only taking place in March 1957.

The first maximum break in Germany during the regular tournament was achieved in 1994 by Mike Henson in the final of the Gifhorner Open.

Developments in the professional sector

Cliff Thorburn was the first to play two maximum breaks

The first maximum break played in a professional tournament succeeded John Spencer against Cliff Thorburn on January 13, 1979 at Holsten Lager International in the Fulcrum Center in Slough ; however, it was not recognized as the table had pockets that were too large. It could also have been the first televised maximum break if the camera crew hadn't taken a tea break. Almost exactly three years later to the day, on January 11, 1982, Steve Davis then played the first officially recognized maximum break at the Lada Classic , which was also the first maximum break televised. John Spencer happened to be sitting in the opponent's chair.

Only a year later, the Canadian Cliff Thorburn played the first maximum break during a World Cup as part of his game against the Welshman Terry Griffiths . By the end of the 1980s, however, only eight officially recognized maximum breaks were played (including two by Cliff Thorburn), but at the latest from 1992, when five maximum breaks were played alone, this number rose rapidly. For example, twelve maximum breaks were played in the 1999 calendar year and eight maximum breaks in the 2000 calendar year, after which the number declined again. This first-mentioned jump in the number can be traced back to the development of professional style of play: In 1985, the Scot Stephen Hendry came on the Main Tour, who designed the game much more aggressively than most of the previous players. So Hendry developed the structured breakbuilding, which included, for example, the "long red" as an entry ball and the split of the red group by punching the blue on one of the middle pockets, which until then had been considered too risky by the players. He was also safe when punching the middle pocket, which was an important cornerstone for breakbuilding. This gave him a better chance of playing higher breaks and thus also maximum breaks. Since Hendry had a lot of success with it - he won the World Snooker Championship seven times  - this style of play established itself. In addition, in the 1990s, the opening of the tour to all players and an associated larger field of participants, as well as more tournaments per se, gave more potential opportunities to play a maximum break.

At the end of the 1990s, when Hendry was still dominant, another fast player came to the top of the world with the Englishman Ronnie O'Sullivan . O'Sullivan was later nicknamed "The Rocket" because he, like Hendry, played much more risky than others before and thus developed better chances. In the 1997 World Snooker Championship , O'Sullivan played the fastest maximum break ever. Depending on the interpretation of the TV recording, it had a length of 5:08 minutes or 5:20 minutes, with the World Association and the Guinness Book of Records set to 5:08 minutes. This is possibly because the seconds in which O'Sullivan gets up from his chair, looks at the picture lying on the table and starts the break are partly counted. With the ban on sponsorship by tobacco companies at the beginning of the 2000s, a lull began in snooker, in which the number of tournaments was drastically reduced (e.g. 17 tournaments in 1996/97 and nine tournaments in 2005/06 ). In addition, the number of Main Tour professionals decreased, which also drastically decreased the number of games. During this time, for example, the Scot John Higgins had relatively great success with five maximum breaks between 2000 and 2006, as he was also a good break builder. In 2003 he played a maximum break in two consecutive world ranking tournaments for the first time, both at the LG Cup and at the British Open .

The turning point came in 2007 when six maximum breaks were played in a calendar year. Two of them were played by O'Sullivan, who with his maximum breaks at the Northern Ireland Trophy and at the UK Championship was the second player to play a maximum break in two consecutive world rankings. Although the number of tournaments only increased noticeably with the introduction of the Players Tour Championship for the 2010/11 season , many excellent players had established themselves among the top players who had taken over the style of play from Hendry and thus also had better chances of higher breaks. In the 2010s, the number of maximum breaks shot up again, as, in addition to the introduction of the Players Tour Championship (2010-2016), a radical change at the world association ( Barry Hearn ) meant that many more tournaments were played again. In the UK Championship 2013 , for example, Mark Selby played the 100th maximum break, and Shaun Murphy scored three maximum breaks over the next year . In the 2017 Championship League , England's Mark Davis set an age record when he played his second maximum break at the age of 44 years and 202 days, after having played his first maximum break in the same tournament two months earlier. It took only six more years for David Gilbert to hit the 147th maximum in a Championship League game .

• 

  Steve Davis played the first officially recognized maximum break in 1982

• 

  Stephen Hendry gave snooker a more offensive style of play

• 

  Ronnie O'Sullivan played both the fastest maximum break and the most

• 

  John Higgins is an excellent breakbuilder

• 

  Mark Selby played the 100th maximum break

• 

  David Gilbert played the 147th 147 break

Official maximum breaks

criteria

To be officially recognized by the World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association (WPBSA), a maximum break must meet the following two criteria.

1. The maximum must have been played during a professional tournament.
2. The maximum must have been played on a table with pockets that are a rule-compliant size.

Many maximum breaks fail because of these two criteria. For example, the very first maximum break by Edward James O'Donoghue or the first maximum break by Joe Davis were not recognized because they were not played in a professional tournament. This criterion, however, fulfilled the maximum break by John Spencer in January 1979, but it was played on a table that did not have the required pocket size.

Chronological maximum breaks

If both of the above criteria are met, a maximum break will be officially recognized by the WPBSA. The following table lists these officially recognized maximum breaks chronologically.

• No .: Number of the maximum break
• Date: Date on which the maximum break was played.
• Player: The player who played the maximum break.
• Result: Final score of the match in which the maximum break was played. The number of frames of the player who played the maximum break is mentioned first, followed by the number of frames of his opponent. Victories turn green ; Ties are highlighted in orange and defeats in red from the perspective of the maximum player.
• Tournament: Link to the tournament during which the maximum break was played. Depending on availability, the individual tournament is sometimes linked, sometimes the overview articles for the respective tournaments are also mentioned. Televised breaks are marked (TV) .
• Round / Frame: The first round is the round in which the maximum break was played. The number of frames follows, i.e. in which frame the maximum was played.
• Referee: Referee who directed the game in which the maximum was played.

No.	date	player	Result	opponent	competition	Round / frame	referee
1	January 11, 1982	Steve Davis	5: 2	John Spencer	Lada Classic (TV)	Quarterfinals, frame 5	Jim Thorpe
2	April 23, 1983	Cliff Thorburn	13:12	Terry Griffiths	World Championship (TV)	Round of 16, frame 4	John Williams
3	January 28, 1984	Kirk Stevens	4: 6	Jimmy White	Masters (TV)	Semifinals, frame 9	John Smyth
4th	17th November 1987	Willie Thorne	9: 4	Tommy Murphy	UK Championship	Round of 32, frame 2	John Street
5	20th of February 1988	Tony Meo	2: 6	Stephen Hendry	Matchroom League	Group stage, frame 7	Alan Chamberlain
6th	September 24, 1988	Alain Robidoux	5-0	Jim Meadowcroft	European Open qualification	Round of the last 128, frame 2	John Smyth
7th	February 18, 1989	John Rea	5: 3	Ian Black	Scottish Professional Championship	Quarterfinals, frame 6	Bill McKerron
8th	0March 8, 1989	Cliff Thorburn	7: 1	Jimmy White	Matchroom League	Group stage, frame 4	Martin Webb
9	January 16, 1991	James Wattana	6: 2	Paul Dawkins	World Masters	Round of the last 128, frame 3	Bruce Duncan
10	0June 5, 1991	Peter Ebdon	5-0	Wayne Martin	Strachan Open qualification	First round	Dave Church-West
11	February 25, 1992	James Wattana	5: 1	Tony Drago	British Open (TV)	Round of 16, frame 5	Bruce Duncan
12	April 22, 1992	Jimmy White	10: 4	Tony Drago	World Championship (TV)	First round, frame 4	John Street
13	0May 9, 1992	John Parrott	5: 3	Tony Meo	Matchroom League	Group stage, frame 4	Roy Couch
14th	May 24, 1992	Stephen Hendry	4: 4	Willie Thorne	Matchroom League	Group stage, frame 8	Alan Shankland
15th	November 14, 1992	Peter Ebdon	4: 9	Ken Doherty	UK Championship	Round of 64, frame 12	Colin Brinded
16	0September 7, 1994	David McDonnell	5: 3	Nic Barrow	British Open qualification	Fourth round	Howard Spencer
17th	April 21, 1995	Stephen Hendry	16:12	Jimmy White	World Championship (TV)	Semi-final, frame 12	Len Ganley
18th	November 25, 1995	Stephen Hendry	9: 2	Gary Wilkinson	UK Championship (TV)	Round of 16, frame 5	John Williams
19th	0January 5, 1997	Stephen Hendry	9: 8	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Charity Challenge (TV)	Finale, frame 17	Alan Chamberlain
20th	April 21, 1997	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10: 6	Mick Price	World Championship (TV)	First round, frame 14	Len Ganley
21st	September 18, 1997	James Wattana	5: 4	Pang Wei Guo	China International	Quarterfinals, frame 6	Jiang Zhenyuan
22nd	May 16, 1998	Stephen Hendry	5: 6	Ken Doherty	Premier League Snooker (TV)	Semifinals, frame 5	Alan Chamberlain
23	August 10, 1998	Adrian Gunnell	5: 4	Mario Wehrmann	Thailand Masters Qualification	First round	Dave Palmer
24	August 13, 1998	Mehmet Husnu	5: 4	Eddie Barker	China International Qualification	First round	Dave Baxter
25th	January 13, 1999	Jason Prince	4: 5	Ian Brumby	British Open qualification	Round of the last 96	Peter Williamson
26th	January 29, 1999	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5: 2	James Wattana	Welsh Open (TV)	Quarterfinals, frame 3	John Newton
27	0February 4, 1999	Stuart Bingham	4: 2	Barry Hawkins	UK Tour - Event 3	Round of the last 128	Derek Budde
28	March 22, 1999	Nick Dyson	4: 3	Adrian Gunnell	UK Tour - Event 4	Round of the last 128	Peter Williamson
29	0April 6, 1999	Graeme Dott	5: 4	David Roe	British Open (TV)	Round of 64, frame 7	Haydn Parry
30th	September 19, 1999	Stephen Hendry	9: 5	Peter Ebdon	British Open (TV)	Finale, frame 7	John Newton
31	September 21, 1999	Barry Pinches	4: 5	Joe Johnson	Welsh Open qualification	Round of 96, frame 12	Peter Williamson
32	October 13, 1999	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5: 1	Graeme Dott	Grand Prix (TV)	Round of 32, frame 2	Colin Brinded
33	0November 4, 1999	Karl Burrows	3: 5	Adrian Rosa	Benson & Hedges Championship	Round of the last 128	Graham Harding
34	November 22, 1999	Stephen Hendry	9: 3	Paul Wykes	UK Championship (TV)	Round of 16, frame 5	John Newton
35	January 21, 2000	John Higgins	6: 4	Dennis Taylor	Nations Cup (TV)	Group stage, frame 7	Alan Chamberlain
36	March 24, 2000	John Higgins	6: 4	Jimmy White	Irish Masters (TV)	Quarter Finals, Frame 1	Colin Brinded
37	March 28, 2000	Stephen Maguire	4: 5	Phaitoon Phonbun	Scottish Open qualification	First round	Stuart Bennett
38	0April 5, 2000	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5: 4	Quinten Hann	Scottish Open (TV)	Round of 32, frame 4	Jan Verhaas
39	October 25, 2000	Marco Fu	1: 5	Ken Doherty	Scottish Masters (TV)	First round, frame 4	Peter Reinaldi
40	0November 7, 2000	David McLellan	5: 3	Steve Meakin	Benson & Hedges Championship	Second round	Stuart Bennett
41	November 19, 2000	Nick Dyson	5: 3	Robert Milkins	UK Championship qualification	Second round	Alan Chamberlain
42	February 25, 2001	Stephen Hendry	7: 1	Mark Williams	Malta Grand Prix (TV)	Finale, frame 3	Paul Galea
43	October 17, 2001	Ronnie O'Sullivan	5: 1	Drew Henry	LG Cup (TV)	Round of 16, frame 3	Eirian Williams
44	November 12, 2001	Shaun Murphy	5: 2	Adrian Rosa	Benson & Hedges Championship	Round of the last 32	unknown
45	October 28, 2002	Tony Drago	3: 5	Stuart Bingham	Benson & Hedges Championship	Round of the last 32	Alan Chamberlain
46	April 22, 2003	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6:10	Marco Fu	World Championship (TV)	First round, frame 7	Jan Verhaas
47	October 12, 2003	John Higgins	5: 9	Mark Williams	LG Cup (TV)	Finale, frame 11	Lawrie Annandale
48	November 12, 2003	John Higgins	5: 1	Michael Judge	British Open (TV)	Round of 32, frame 5	Peter Williamson
49	04th October 2004	John Higgins	3: 5	Ricky Walden	Grand Prix (TV)	Round of 64, frame 3	Peter Williamson
50	November 17, 2004	David Gray	9: 3	Mark Selby	UK Championship	Round of 32, frame 5	Eirian Williams
51	April 20, 2005	Mark Williams	10: 1	Robert Milkins	World Championship (TV)	First round, frame 11	Colin Brinded
52	November 22, 2005	Stuart Bingham	5-0	Marcus Campbell	Masters qualifying event	Fourth qualifying round, frame 5	Peter Williamson
53	March 14, 2006	Robert Milkins	4:10	Mark Selby	World Championship qualification	Fourth qualifying round, frame 8	Dave Palmer
54	October 23, 2006	Jamie Cope	3: 1	Michael Holt	Grand Prix	Group stage, frame 4	Terry Camilleri
55	January 14, 2007	Ding Junhui	6: 3	Anthony Hamilton	Masters (TV)	First round, frame 7	Michaela Tabb
56	February 16, 2007	Andrew Higginson	5: 1	Allister Carter	Welsh Open (TV)	Quarter Finals, Frame 2	Dave Palmer
57	September 19, 2007	Jamie Burnett	4: 3	Liu Song	Grand Prix qualification	Group stage, frame 6	Colin Humphries
58	October 14, 2007	Tom Ford	4-0	Steve Davis	Grand Prix	Group stage, frame 3	Andy Yates
59	0November 8, 2007	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6: 2	Allister Carter	Northern Ireland Trophy (TV)	Round of 16, frame 5	Colin Humphries
60	December 15, 2007	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9: 8	Mark Selby	UK Championship (TV)	Semifinals, frame 17	Alan Chamberlain
61	March 29, 2008	Stephen Maguire	6: 5	Ryan Day	China Open (TV)	Semifinals, frame 2	Eirian Williams
62	April 28, 2008	Ronnie O'Sullivan	13: 7	Mark Williams	World Championship (TV)	Round of 16, frame 20	Eirian Williams
63	April 29, 2008	Allister Carter	13: 9	Peter Ebdon	World Championship (TV)	Quarterfinals, frame 15	Terry Camilleri
64	0October 2, 2008	Jamie Cope	2: 5	Mark Williams	Shanghai Masters (TV)	Round of 16, frame 3	Deng Yueyuan
65	October 29, 2008	Liang Wenbo	5: 2	Martin Gould	Bahrain Championship Qualification	Third qualifying round, frame 4	Andy Yates
66	0November 8, 2008	Marcus Campbell	5-0	Ahmed Basheer Al-Khusaibi	Bahrain Championship (TV)	Wildcard round , frame 4	Abdullah Jahauni
67	December 16, 2008	Ding Junhui	4: 9	John Higgins	UK Championship (TV)	Round of 16, frame 3	Jan Verhaas
68	April 28, 2009	Stephen Hendry	11:13	Shaun Murphy	World Championship (TV)	Quarterfinals, frame 7	Terry Camilleri
69	0June 5, 2009	Mark Selby	1: 2	Joe Perry	Jiangsu Classic (TV)	Group stage, frame 1	Shi Ming
70	0April 1, 2010	Neil Robertson	1: 5	Peter Ebdon	China Open (TV)	Round of 16, frame 2	Michaela Tabb
71	June 25, 2010	Kurt Maflin	4-0	Michał Zieliński	Players Tour Championship - Event 1	Round of the last 128, frame 4	Andy Yates
72	0August 6, 2010	Barry Hawkins	4: 1	James McGouran	Players Tour Championship - Event 3	Round of the last 32	John Pellew
73	20th September 2010	Ronnie O'Sullivan	3-0	Mark King	World Open Qualification (TV)	Round of 64, frame 3	Jan Verhaas
74	October 22, 2010	Thanawat Tirapong Paiboon	1: 4	Barry Hawkins	Rhein-Main Masters	Round of 32, frame 3	Olivier Marteel
75	October 23, 2010	Mark Williams	4-0	Diana Schuler	Rhein-Main Masters	Round of the last 128, frame 1	Jaskula Tomasz
76	November 19, 2010	Rory McLeod	3: 4	Issara Kachaiwong	Prague Classic	Round of 32, frame 5	Bernd Sadleder
77	February 17, 2011	Stephen Hendry	2: 4	Stephen Maguire	Welsh Open (TV)	Round of 16, frame 1	Peter Williamson
78	August 26, 2011	Ronnie O'Sullivan	4-0	Adam Duffy	Paul Hunter Classic (TV)	Round of 32, frame 3	Thorsten Müller
79	November 22, 2011	Mike Dunn	5-0	Kurt Maflin	German Masters qualification	Round of the last 128, frame 4	Leo Scullion
80	November 27, 2011	David Gray	4: 2	Robbie Williams	Players Tour Championship - Event 10	Second amateur round, frame 6	-
81	November 29, 2011	Ricky Walden	4: 1	Gareth Allen	Players Tour Championship - Event 10	Round of the last 128, frame 3	Brendan Moore
82	December 15, 2011	Matthew Stevens	4-0	Michael Wasley	FFB Snooker Open	Round of the last 128, frame 4	Hilde Moens
83	December 15, 2011	Ding Junhui	4-0	Brandon Winstone	FFB Snooker Open	Round of the last 128, frame 3	Ben Williams
84	December 17, 2011	Ding Junhui	4: 1	James Cahill	Players Tour Championship - Event 11 (TV)	Round of the last 128, frame 5	Hilde Moens
85	December 18, 2011	Jamie Cope	4: 3	Kurt Maflin	Players Tour Championship - Event 11	Round of 32, frame 1	Pasi Jantti
86	January 14, 2012	Marco Fu	5: 2	Matthew Selt	Haikou World Open Qualification	Fourth qualifying round, frame 6	Andy Yates
87	April 11, 2012	Robert Milkins	10: 4	Xiao Guodong	World Championship qualification	Fourth qualifying round, frame 3	Paul Collier
88	April 21, 2012	Stephen Hendry	10: 4	Stuart Bingham	World Championship (TV)	Round of 32, frame 7	Zhu Ying
89	0July 1, 2012	Stuart Bingham	4:10	Ricky Walden	Wuxi Classic (TV)	Finale, frame 6	Brendan Moore
90	August 24, 2012	Ken Doherty	4-0	Julian Driver	Paul Hunter Classic	Round of the last 128, frame 3	Walter Kunz
91	23rd September 2012	John Higgins	10: 9	Judd Trump	Shanghai Masters (TV)	Finale, frame 6	Michaela Tabb
92	November 16, 2012	Tom Ford	4: 1	Matthew Stevens	Bulgarian Open (TV)	Round of 32, frame 1	Nico De Vos
93	November 21, 2012	Andy Hicks	6: 2	Daniel Wells	UK Championship qualification	Second qualifying round, frame 8	Olivier Marteel
94	November 22, 2012	Jack Lisowski	6: 2	Chen Zhe	UK Championship qualification	Third qualifying round, frame 4	Colin Humphries
95	05th December 2012	John Higgins	5: 6	Mark Davis	UK Championship (TV)	Round of 16, frame 8	Terry Camilleri
96	December 14, 2012	Kurt Maflin	4: 1	Stuart Carrington	Scottish Open	Round of 32, frame 1	John Twist
97	March 16, 2013	Ding Junhui	4: 3	Mark Allen	Players Tour Championship - Grand Finals (TV)	Quarter Finals, Frame 1	Michaela Tabb
98	May 28, 2013	Neil Robertson	5-0	Mohamed Khairy	Wuxi Classic qualification	Round of the last 128, frame 2	John Pellew
99	15th November 2013	Judd Trump	3: 4	Mark Selby	Antwerp Open	Round of 32, frame 3	Herman Francken
100	0December 7, 2013	Mark Selby	9: 5	Ricky Walden	UK Championship (TV)	Semifinals, frame 7	Paul Collier
101	December 11th 2013	Dechawat Poomjaeng	5: 3	Zak Surety	German Masters qualification	Round of the last 128, frame 4	Greg Coniglio
102	December 12th 2013	Gary Wilson	5: 3	Ricky Walden	German Masters qualification	Round of the last 128, frame 4	Leo Scullion
103	0January 8, 2014	Shaun Murphy	3: 2	Mark Davis	Championship League (Group 2)	Group stage, frame 3	Paul Collier
104	0February 9, 2014	Shaun Murphy	4: 2	Jamie Jones	Gdynia Open	Round of 16, frame 6	Monika Sułkowska
105	0March 2, 2014	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9: 3	Ding Junhui	Welsh Open (TV)	Finale, frame 12	Leo Scullion
106	22nd August 2014	Aditya Mehta	2: 4	Stephen Maguire	Paul Hunter Classic	Round of 32, frame 3	Luise Kraatz
107	23 October 2014	Ryan Day	4: 1	Cao Yupeng	Haining Open	Round of 32, frame 5	Zhou Bingfeng
108	23rd November 2014	Shaun Murphy	4-0	Robert Milkins	Ruhr Open (TV)	Finale, frame 2	Thorsten Müller
109	04th December 2014	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6-0	Matthew Selt	UK Championship (TV)	Round of 16, frame 6	Jan Verhaas
110	December 12, 2014	Ben Woollaston	4-0	Joe Steele	Lisbon Open	Round of the last 128, frame 3	Marc Lauwers
111	05th January 2015	Barry Hawkins	3-0	Stephen Maguire	Championship League (Group 1)	Group stage, frame 2	Rob Spencer
112	January 11, 2015	Marco Fu	6: 3	Stuart Bingham	Masters (TV)	Round of 16, frame 4	Brendan Moore
113	0February 6, 2015	Judd Trump	4: 5	Mark Selby	German Masters	Quarterfinals, frame 5	Marcel Eckardt
114	February 10, 2015	David Gilbert	2: 3	Xiao Guodong	Championship League (Group 7)	Group stage, frame 3	Maike Kesseler
115	0December 6, 2015	Neil Robertson	10: 5	Liang Wenbo	UK Championship (TV)	Finale, frame 6	Jan Verhaas
116	December 11, 2015	Marco Fu	4: 2	Sam Baird	Gibraltar Open	Round of 64, frame 5	Martyn Royce
117	19th February 2016	Ding Junhui	2: 5	Neil Robertson	Welsh Open (TV)	Quarterfinals, frame 6	Brendan Moore
118	February 25, 2016	Fergal O'Brien	1: 3	Mark Davis	Championship League (Group 6)	Group stage, frame 1	Marcel Eckardt
119	August 27, 2016	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh	4: 1	Kurt Maflin	Paul Hunter Classic	Round of 32, frame 2	Erik Amberg
120	20th September 2016	Stephen Maguire	5-0	Yi Chen Xu	Shanghai Masters	Wildcard round , frame 3	Tang Xu
121	September 28, 2016	Shaun Murphy	4-0	Allan Taylor	European Masters qualification	Round of 64, frame 2	Rob Spencer
122	October 11, 2016	Alfred Burden	3: 4	Daniel Wells	English Open	Round of the last 128, frame 6	Tatiana Woollaston
123	November 16, 2016	John Higgins	4: 1	Sam Craigie	Northern Ireland Open	Round of 64, frame 5	Malgorzata Kanieska
124	November 27, 2016	Mark Allen	6: 4	Rod Lawler	UK Championship	Round of 64, frame 7	Marcel Eckardt
125	0December 8, 2016	Allister Carter	5-0	Wang Yuchen	German Masters qualification	Round of the last 128, frame 4	Dave Palmer
126	0December 8, 2016	Ross Muir	5: 2	Itaro Santos	German Masters qualification	Round of the last 128, frame 3	Ingo Schmidt
127	January 10, 2017	Mark Davis	3: 2	Neil Robertson	Championship League (Group 3)	Group finals, frame 5	Brendan Moore
128	01st February 2017	Tom Ford	5: 2	Peter Ebdon	German Masters	Round of 32, frame 2	Miłosz Olborski
129	02nd March 2017	Mark Davis	3: 2	John Higgins	Championship League (Winners' Group)	Group stage, frame 5	Rob Spencer
130	March 30, 2017	Judd Trump	5: 3	Tian Pengfei	China Open (TV)	Round of 16, frame 5	Brendan Moore
131	0April 6, 2017	Gary Wilson	10: 9	Josh Boileau	World Championship qualification	First qualifying round, frame 4	Dave Ford
132	18th October 2017	Liang Wenbo	4: 3	Tom Ford	English Open	Round of 64, frame 6	Rob Spencer
133	October 31, 2017	Kyren Wilson	5: 6	Martin Gould	International Championship	Round of 32, frame 10	Shen Yifei
134	December 12, 2017	Cao Yupeng	4-0	Andrew Higginson	Scottish Open	Round of the last 128, frame 3	Rob Spencer
135	January 26, 2018	Martin Gould	3: 2	Li Hang	Championship League (Group 6)	Group stage, frame 5	Brendan Moore
136	March 26, 2018	Luca Brecel	3-0	John Higgins	Championship League (Group 7)	Group stage, frame 3	Paul Collier
137	03rd April 2018	Ronnie O'Sullivan	2: 6	Elliot Slessor	China Open (TV)	Round of 64, frame 5	Peggy Li
138	04th April 2018	Stuart Bingham	6: 5	Ricky Walden	China Open	Round of 32, frame 7	Zhang Yi
139	April 12, 2018	Liang Wenbo	10: 2	Rod Lawler	World Championship qualification	First qualifying round, frame 10	Ben Williams
140	August 24, 2018	Michael Georgiou	4: 2	Umut Dikme	Paul Hunter Classic	Round of the last 128, frame 3	Marcel Eckardt
141	August 24, 2018	Jamie Jones	2: 4	Lee Walker	Paul Hunter Classic	Round of 64, frame 3	Michael Schäfer
142	October 16, 2018	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh	4: 1	Soheil Vahedi	English Open	Round of the last 128, frame 1	Anastasiya Tuzikava
143	17th October 2018	Ronnie O'Sullivan	4-0	Allan Taylor	English Open (TV)	Round of 64, frame 4	Marcel Eckardt
144	0November 8, 2018	Mark Selby	3: 4	Neil Robertson	Champion of Champions (TV)	First round, frame 2	Dessislawa Boschilowa
145	December 12, 2018	John Higgins	4-0	Gerard Greene	Scottish Open (TV)	Second round, frame 3	Malgorzata Kanieska
146	December 21, 2018	Judd Trump	5-0	Lukas Kleckers	German Masters Qualification (TV)	Round of 64, frame 3	Radoslaw Matusiak
147	22nd January 2019	David Gilbert	1: 3	Stephen Maguire	Championship League (Group 5) (TV)	Group stage, frame 2	Paul Collier
148	February 12, 2019	Neil Robertson	4: 1	Jordan Brown	Welsh Open (TV)	Round of the last 128, frame 4	Glen Sullivan-Bisset
149	February 14, 2019	Noppon Saengkham	1: 4	Mark Selby	Welsh Open (TV)	Round of 32, frame 2	Luise Kraatz
150	February 28, 2019	Zhou Yuelong	3: 4	Lü Haotian	Indian Open	Round of 64, frame 4	Nazeer V
151	03rd April 2019	Stuart Bingham	6: 3	Peter Ebdon	China Open (TV)	Round of 32, frame 7	Wang Haitao
152	17th June 2019	Tom Ford	6: 1	Fraser Patrick	International Championship Qualification (TV)	Round of the last 128, frame 7	Andy Yates
153	17th October 2019	Tom Ford	4: 3	Shaun Murphy	English Open (TV)	Round of 16, frame 7	Nigel Leddie
154	November 12, 2019	Stuart Bingham	4: 3	Lu Ning	Northern Ireland Open	Round of the last 128, frame 1	Leo Scullion
155	November 27, 2019	Barry Hawkins	6: 2	Gerard Greene	UK Championship	Round of the last 128, frame 4	Brendan Moore
156	February 11, 2020	Kyren Wilson	4: 3	Jackson Page	Welsh Open (TV)	Round of the last 128, frame 1	Marcel Eckardt
157	0August 6, 2020	John Higgins	11:13	Kurt Maflin	World Championship (TV)	Round of 16, frame 12	Ben Williams

statistics

The following tables are based on the data from the previous chronological overview.

Player with the most maximum breaks

Ding Junhui ( 2015 )

Shaun Murphy ( 2015 )

Also in this statistic it is noticeable that the players mentioned in the history section have already played numerous maximum breaks due to their skills.

• Place: Placement of the player, sorted according to the number of maximum breaks. The minimum limit is three maximum breaks played.
• Number: Number of maximum breaks played by the player. The basic sorting is based on this number.
• Player: the player's name and the flag of the country he was playing for when he played the maximum.
• Last: Month and year when the player played his last maximum.

space	number	player	Last one
1	15th	Ronnie O'Sullivan	17th October 2018
2	11	Stephen Hendry	April 12, 2012
3	10	John Higgins	0August 6, 2020
4th	6th	Ding Junhui	19th February 2016
		Stuart Bingham	November 12, 2019
6th	5	Shaun Murphy	September 28, 2016
		Tom Ford	17th October 2019
8th	4th	Marco Fu	December 11, 2015
		Neil Robertson	February 12, 2019
		Judd Trump	December 21, 2018
11	3	Jamie Cope	December 18, 2011
		Liang Wenbo	April 12, 2018
		Stephen Maguire	20th September 2016
		Mark Selby	0November 8, 2018
		James Wattana	September 18, 1997
		Barry Hawkins	November 27, 2019

Number of maximum breaks per nation

It is particularly noteworthy that in addition to the home countries of snooker sport, especially Great Britain and Ireland, Asian countries such as China and Thailand have already achieved many maximum breaks. This is mainly due to the fact that with the professionalization of the sport, the Asian market also became accessible and with players like James Wattana and Ding Junhui there was a kind of boom, especially in Thailand and China.

• Place: placement of the nation. In the basic version it is sorted first according to the total number of maximum breaks, then according to the average. If two nations are still tied, the place will be divided.
• Nation: Nation of the player with a flag.
• Total Maximum Breaks: Number of maximum breaks played by all players in the nation.
• Players: Number of players in the nation who have played at least one maximum break.
• Average: Average number of maximum breaks per player.

space	nation	Maximum total breaks	player	average
1	England	79	34	2.32
2	Scotland	30th	9	3.33
3	People's Republic of China	11	4th	2.75
4th	Thailand	8th	5	1.6
5	Wales	5	4th	1.25
6th	Australia	4th	1	4th
	Hong Kong	4th	1	4th
8th	Canada	4th	3	1.33
9	Ireland	3	3	1
10	Norway	2	1	2
11	Northern Ireland	2	2	1
	Cyprus	2	2	1
13	Belgium	1	1	1
	India	1	1	1
	Malta	1	1	1

Number of maximum breaks per referee

What is striking about this statistic is the fact that numerous long-time and experienced snooker referees, who lead more and better-filled matches, directed a large part of the maximum breaks.

Jan Verhaas ( 2013 )

Marcel Eckardt ( 2013 )

• Place: Position of the referee, sorting according to the number of maximum breaks conducted. The minimum number is three guided maximum breaks.
• Referee: Name of the referee and the flag of the country he was playing for when he directed the maximum.
• Number: Number of maximum breaks led by the referee. The basic sorting is based on this number.
• Last: divided into:
  • Player Name of the player and the flag of the country he was playing for when he played the last referee-directed maximum break
  • Date Date of the last maximum break led by the referee.

space	referee	number	Last one
			player	date
1	Brendan Moore	8th	Barry Hawkins	November 27, 2019
2	Alan Chamberlain	7th	Ronnie O'Sullivan	December 15, 2007
	Peter Williamson		Stephen Hendry	February 17, 2011
4th	Jan Verhaas	6th	Neil Robertson	0December 6, 2015
	Marcel Eckardt		Kyren Wilson	February 11, 2020
6th	Paul Collier	5	David Gilbert	22nd January 2019
	Rob Spencer		Cao Yupeng	December 12, 2017
	Andy Yates		Tom Ford	17th June 2019
9	Colin Brinded	4th	Mark Williams	April 20, 2005
	Terry Camilleri		Mark Davis	05th December 2012
	Dave Palmer		Ali Carter	0December 8, 2016
	Leo Scullion		Stuart Bingham	November 12, 2019
	Michaela Tabb		Ding Junhui	March 16, 2013
	Eirian Williams		Ronnie O'Sullivan	April 28, 2008
14th	John Newton	3	Stephen Hendry	November 22, 1999
	Colin Humphries		Jack Lisowski	November 22, 2012
	Ben Williams		John Higgins	0August 6, 2020

Number of maximum breaks by tournament

UK Championship 2015 logo

2015 World Snooker Championship logo

The order below can largely be explained by the following two factors. On the one hand, many tournaments, e.g. the UK Championship since 1977 or the Snooker World Championship since 1927, have been anchored on professional tours for many years and thus offered more opportunities than newer tournaments. On the other hand, the Championship League or the Masters , for example, have a small but excellent field of participants, mostly consisting of top players, which means that the probability of a maximum break is significantly higher. In addition, the leagues also have a disproportionately large field of participants, although this also applies to the UK Championship and the English Open .

• Place: Placement of the tournament, sorted according to the number of maximum breaks conducted. The minimum number is three maximum breaks.
• Tournament: Name of the tournament.
• Number: Number of maximum breaks played during the tournament. The basic sorting is based on this number.
• Last: divided into:
  • Year Year of the last maximum break played during the tournament.
  • Player Name of the player and the flag of the country he was playing for when he played the last maximum break played during the tournament.

space	competition	number	Last one
			year	player
1	UK Championship	16	2019	Barry Hawkins
2	World Snooker Championship	15th	2020	John Higgins
3	Championship League	9	2019	David Gilbert
	World Open		2012	Marco Fu
	Welsh Open		2020	Kyren Wilson
6th	German Masters	8th	2019	Judd Trump
	China Open		2019	Stuart Bingham
8th	British Open	6th	2003	John Higgins
	Paul Hunter Classic		2018	Jamie Jones
10	English Open	5	2019	Tom Ford
	Premier League snooker		1998	Stephen Hendry
	Scottish Open		2018	John Higgins
12	Benson & Hedges Championship	4th	2002	Tony Drago
	Masters		2015	Marco Fu
15th	Wuxi Classic	3	2013	Neil Robertson
	Shanghai Masters		2016	Stephen Maguire

particularities

Played his first maximum break with stomach cramps: Tom Ford ( 2015 )

Particularly worth mentioning is Ronnie O'Sullivan , who with fifteen maximum breaks not only played the most, but also the fastest maximum break in 1997 with 5:08 minutes. After O'Sullivan wanted to cancel the maximum break in front of the last black at the World Open 2010 because of his anger over the low prize money and only referee Jan Verhaas was able to persuade him to continue playing, O'Sullivan succeeded at the UK Championship one day before his 39th birthday 2014 his 13th maximum break despite a broken ankle. In addition to O'Sullivan, the Englishman Tom Ford also had health problems during one of his Maximum Breaks: Shortly before he defeated six-time World Champion Steve Davis 4-0 at the 2007 Grand Prix and played his first Maximum Break, Ford was hospitalized with gastroenteritis and treated there. After firing himself, Ford made his first maximum break.

After O'Sullivan allowed himself to be persuaded to end the maximum break in 2010, he again protested at the Welsh Open 2016 against what he believed to be too little rewards for a maximum break. In the fifth and overall last frame of his game against Barry Pinches , he was on a maximum break course when he first found out about the reward for a maximum break from an official and then in the commentary booth. Since £ 10,000 seemed too low to him, he played the pink ball instead of black after the 14th red, so he played a 146 break.

Bonuses

A maximum break is always rewarded with an extra bonus. For example, Steve Davis got a Lada Riva from the title sponsor Lada for the first Maximum Break in 1982 , which he gave away to his parents. There was later an additional cash award which was £ 20,000 at most tournaments . Until 2011, a maximum of £ 147,000 was paid at the World Snooker Championship for a maximum in the main round.

As of 2011, the extra bonus was converted into a jackpot rule, the "Rolling 147 Prize". A fixed premium was set for each tournament:

• for the main round of a fully-fledged world ranking tournament £ 5000
• for the qualifying round of a world ranking tournament £ 500

If no maximum break was achieved, i.e. the bonus was not distributed, the bonus amount was collected in a pot. There was a separate pot for each type of tournament. If a maximum break was then achieved in a later tournament of the same type, the player received the tournament bonus as well as the amount that had accumulated in the pot belonging to the tournament type. For the 2019/20 season, however , the Rolling 147 Prize was abolished and replaced by a system that divides a million pound sterling prize money among the players of these maximum breaks for twenty maximum breaks played during a single season.

There are still special regulations for the World Cup. In 2018, £ 40,000 and in 2019 £ 50,000 were awarded for a main round maximum.

By the end of the Players Tour Championship at the end of the 2016 season, there was also a separate Rolling 147 Prize for the PTC, which was also £ 500.

Web links

• First Maximum Break on Television (by Steve Davis) on YouTube , May 25, 2006, accessed February 22, 2019.
• Ronnie O'Sullivan fastest 147 in history vs Mick Price at the 1997 World Championships on YouTube , November 30, 2010, accessed February 22, 2019.
• List of different records (English; snooker.org)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Clive Everton : Murphy shows the form and confidence of a champion. In: The Guardian . October 12, 2005, accessed February 20, 2019 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Gilbert Makes Historic 147th Maximum. World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association , January 22, 2019, accessed February 11, 2019 .  
3. ^ Clive Everton: Burnett's break goes one better. In: The Guardian . October 18, 2004, accessed February 22, 2019 .  
4. ↑ Vivek Pathak: Wael Talaat set a Record High Break in 6Reds. IBSF , June 20, 2014, accessed March 1, 2019 .  
5. ↑ Calendar of Events in the History of English Billiards and Snooker (July - September). snookergames.co.uk, accessed January 30, 2019 .  
6. ^ Snooker Canada: Leo Levitt. Snooker Canada, December 20, 2015, accessed January 30, 2019 .  
7. ^ ^{A b} Hugo Kastner: Humboldt Snooker Guide . Humboldt Verlag, Baden-Baden 2006, ISBN 978-3-89994-098-5 , pp. 161 ( google.de ).
8. ^ ^{A b} Calendar of Events in the History of English Billiards and Snooker. snookergames.co.uk, accessed February 20, 2019 .  
9. ↑ History and highlights in Gifhorn or by Gifhorn players. RSC Gifhorn , accessed on February 18, 2019 .  
10. ^ Jamie Watkins: The 147 Club. (No longer available online.) Global Snooker Center, 2008, archived from the original on January 19, 2009 ; accessed on February 20, 2019 (English).  
11. ^ Snooker World Records. snooker.org, January 4, 2019, accessed February 20, 2019 .  
12. ↑ Rolf Kalb : The fascinating world of snooker . Edel Books, Hamburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8419-0611-3 , pp.  116-119 .
13. ↑ ^{a b} Fastest 147 break in snooker. In: guinnessworldrecords.com. Guinness World Records , April 21, 1997, accessed May 8, 2018 .  
14. ↑ Rolf Kalb : The fascinating world of snooker . Edel Books, Hamburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8419-0611-3 , pp.  119-122 .
15. ↑ Rolf Kalb : The fascinating world of snooker . Edel Books, Hamburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8419-0611-3 , pp.  122-124 .
16. ^ Higgins wins Championship League. World Snooker , March 3, 2017, accessed February 20, 2019 .  
17. ↑ Chris Turner: Maximum Breaks. (No longer available online.) Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2011, archived from the original on May 8, 2016 ; accessed on January 31, 2019 (English).  
18. ↑ 147 breaks. World Professional Billiards & Snooker Association , accessed August 6, 2020 .  
19. ↑ Ron Florax: CueTracker - Maximums Made - All-time - Professional - Snooker Results & Statistics. Cuetracker.net, accessed on August 6, 2020 .  
20. ↑ Jörg Leopold: Snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan: Maximum break despite broken ankle. Der Tagesspiegel , December 5, 2014, accessed on March 30, 2019 .  
21. ↑ Tom Ford. World Snooker , January 11, 2015, accessed March 30, 2019 .  
22. ↑ Press Association: Ronnie O'Sullivan passes up 147 break at Welsh Open as prize is 'too cheap'. The Guardian , February 15, 2016, accessed March 30, 2019 .  
23. ↑ Steve Davis : Interesting . Dragonstars Eventmanagement, Fürth 2016, ISBN 978-3-00-053061-6 , p.  144-148 (English: Interesting . Ebury Press, London 2015.).
24. ↑ Steven Pye: Sporting firsts of the 1980s: from a nine-dart finish to a 147 break. In: The Guardian . November 14, 2013, accessed February 20, 2019 .  
25. ↑ World Snooker: Williams unhappy with 147 prize removal. BBC Sport , April 23, 2011, accessed February 20, 2019 .  
26. ^ Rolling 147 Prizes for Ladbrokes World Grand Prix and Ladbrokes Players Championship. World Snooker , February 29, 2016, accessed February 18, 2019 .  
27. ↑ 19 More Maximums Required For £ 1 Million Bonus. World Snooker , August 15, 2019, accessed November 4, 2019 .  
28. ^ 147 Rolling Prizes. (No longer available online.) World Snooker , December 1, 2011, archived from the original on December 3, 2011 ; accessed on February 20, 2019 (English).  

This version was included in the selection of informative lists and portals on April 1, 2019 .