On 11th February 2020, Kyren Wilson made the 156th professional maximum in snooker history. To go through the stats, 74 players from 15 countries succeeded in making a 147. The youngest player to make it is Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon (16 years, 312 days) and the oldest is Mark Davis (44 years, 202 days). Ronnie O’Sullivan is the leading player with the most maximums, with 15 in total to date.
There are so many maximums to choose from that it’s hard to decide which is the best or most memorable. We can talk about the speed, the circumstance and the recovery shots. Everyone’s memory is different It’s almost impossible to make a countdown of maximums that everyone will agree with.
For example, one honourable mention is the sheer arrogance of Ronnie O’Sullivan against Mark King to pot one red then sit down until knowing how much money was on offer to make a maximum in 2010. He initially refused to pot the black due to the insufficient prize money for such an achievement until peer pressure from Jan Verhaas made him do so. Another highlight is Jimmy White’s maximum against Tony Drago in the 1992 World Championship, where big bear hugs!
Anyways, hope you enjoy this countdown! Bear in mind this feels like a list rather than a countdown, as one 147 is as good as the other but only by personal preference!
10. Stephen Hendry vs. Stuart Bingham (2012)
Little did we know at the time that Stephen Hendry’s final tournament of his career was the 2012 World Championships. So it is quite poignant that Hendry had enough in him to complete his 11th maximum break in his career.
Hendry’s maximum came a day after he returned from a 10,000-mile round trip to China for business in relation to pool. By that stage, Hendry got to the Crucible as a qualifier and had to beat Yu Delu to get to that stage. Despite his long decline of form, he still showed flashes of brilliance. He was 5-1 up in the first round against Stuart Bingham when he started compiling his maximum break.
He made a few recovery shots on the 3rd red and 4th black. His pot on the yellow was very similar for Cliff Thorburn’s 147 break in 1983. It was fantastic to see him complete his third 147 ever completed at the Crucible.
Stephen Hendry said himself that,
He may have retired in the quarter-finals in that World Championship, but we can be reassured that Hendry left on a high!
9. Ali Carter vs. Peter Ebdon (2008)
There is a slight amount of bias for me because this is a maximum is really enjoy watching over and over again. Mainly to see the rollercoaster of emotions as Ali constructed the maximum break and then completely explode when the final black rolled in.
During this high-quality session, Ebdon already made a 143 break. In the previous frame Ebdon attempted to make a maximum but broke about on 113. There was a wide variety of shots during this one break. A plant on the 7th red. A cannon with two reds remaining, very similar to Ronnie O’Sullivan when he made his maximum against Mark Williams.
There is the additional distinction of making a maximum at the Crucible. This is also the first time in snooker history where two maximums are made in the same tournament.
8. Steve Davis vs. John Spencer (1982)
This is the first official maximum break in professional competition. It took part at the Lada Classic at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham, against John Spencer. During that era, of course Steve Davis was the man who compiled it. The difficult final pink was the highlight. And it all started with a decent red to the middle.
It was very Steve Davis-like to sit on the side of the table, unable to believe what he just achieved after he potted the final black, shaking his head and smiling. The 24-year-old won a Lada car for that!
Of course, the rest is history. It was a massive break through the glass ceiling. Amazing moment in professional snooker.
7. Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. Ding Junhui (2014)
Ronnie O’Sullivan does have a knack for making maximums and milestones in the final frame of a match. There is his maximum vs. Williams in the 2008 World Championship and against Matt Selt in the 2014 UK Championship. The obvious milestone is his 1000th century against Neil Robertson in the 2019 Players Championship.
So this is the 2014 Welsh Open final and he’s 8-3 ahead of Ding Junhui. Ronnie O’Sullivan pots the first red. Funnily enough, by the third black, the commentators were already thinking of the maximum!
This maximum epitomises Ronnie as snooker’s ultimate showman. This maximum actually breaks Stephen Hendry’s record of 11 maximums. But most people remember this break because of just one shot. His backspin on the final red with his opposite hand is probably one of his most incredible shots of his career.
On the final black, being the showboating virtuoso potted the final black with opposite hand and brings the house down. Ronnie becomes the Welsh Open champion for the third time in his career. Not bad really.
6. Mark Selby vs. Ricky Walden (2013)
This just so happens to be the 100th maximum break in professional snooker. The maximum break itself was rather decent. During this UK Championship semi-final match at 4-2 up, Selby went into the cluster of reds from the first black and the fourth black. His screwback on the third to last red was pretty good too. But it was his recoveries during the final six colours that make his break stand out from the rest.
Weirdly, he spent three minutes of the break on the remaining six colours. He was short on getting perfect position on the brown. Selby was forced to go around the angles using three cushions between the pink and black to keep the chance alive. Despite hitting the blue, he finished awkwardly on the pink and with the biggest extension, managed to pot it cleanly.
Unfortunately for him, the cue ball finished on the bottom cushion. Selby cooly slotted the final black into the middle pocket to complete the maximum. Selby won £59,000 (including the prize of the highest break of the tournament) for that. Not too shabby!
5. Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. Mark Williams (2008)
Ronnie O’Sullivan making a 147 in the final frame of winning a World Championship match. Of course it’s Ronnie O’Sullivan. After the match, John Parrott later said that this 147 break “is as good as anyone can ever play this game.” And who can blame him?
As O’Sullivan was strutting around the table after his opening red, Willie Thorne said that the balls are ‘absolutely perfect‘ for a big break. O’Sullivan recovered on the 7th red and made a fantastic cannon on the 14th red. Even Dennis Taylor said that it was one of the best positional shots he’d ever seen. O’Sullivan was almost straight on the black but he managed to generate the angle to get the cannon and to control it to be comfortable on the 14th red. He ended up making his 9th maximum break.
I remember reading O’Sullivan’s autobiography Running and his reason for his celebration. Off the top of my head, a lot of commentators were writing O’Sullivan off in favour of the up-and-coming Ding Junhui and his celebration was a shout-out that he’s still there. Anyways, watch this break here – it’s great!
4. Cliff Thorburn vs. Terry Griffiths (1983)
I can’t leave this one out, can I?
It may seem a bit of a cop out to include the first maximum made at the Crucible. But this maximum is more than just the first maximum made at the Crucible. There are four iconic things that happened during this break.
The fluke that started it all was the obvious one. It makes the break even more special with a somewhat ironic twist. Second was when Cliff stroked in a wonderful long-range yellow, something that would be hugely difficult under pressure. The third part was one of the most famous words uttered by the snooker commentator Jack Karnehm before the final black: “Oh, good luck mate!”
Then there was probably the most famous moment. After Cliff potted the final black, he fell onto his knees and punched both fists into the air, cue in hand. He was then congratulated by the referee, opponent Terry Griffiths and Bill Werbeniuk, who paused his match to watch Cliff’s maximum.
There is an additional story and I cannot remember where I heard it. But commentators were talking about a player’s attitude towards a fluke going against them and mentioned that Cliff handles those situations very well. Apparently, Cliff said that since his led to one of the best achievements of his career, he was able to accept whenever a fluke doesn’t go his way!
3. Kirk Stevens vs. Jimmy White (1984)
This is probably one of the most famous, high-quality matches in snooker. Jimmy White and Kirk Stevens were regarded as two, handsome, characterful, young pups with an attacking game to take snooker by storm. In this match, Jimmy hit 113, 73 and 59, including the 119 century break in the final frame to win 6-4. But Kirk’s 147 was the main highlight. The achievement also immortalised Kirk wearing his now-famous white suit.
This match the first maximum break of the Masters and the third maximum ever scored in professional competition. The maximum break was superb. The shot of the break was when Kirk potted the green and had to hit three cushions to position himself almost perfectly on the black. I also enjoyed the first recovery red and the amazing positional shot from pink to black. After potting the final black, Kirk rushed over to hug referee John Smyth and an even more affectionate embrace with friend Jimmy White.
This was later followed by the presenter offering both players champagne for “one of the greatest sessions of snooker in the history of the game.” Even Jimmy mentioned that he didn’t think there was snooker like that in a match before.
2. Stephen Hendry vs. Ronnie O’Sullivan (1997)
I read in Stephen Hendry’s autobiography that the opening read of that maximum break was one of his favourite shots of his career.
It was against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of the Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge final. It was a strange but high-quality game. Hendry was 8-2 up and looked set to win. However, O’Sullivan pulled back six frames in a row to force a decider. Hendry admitted he felt completely calm in the decider because from 8-2 up, he didn’t feel he did anything wrong to be pegged back to 8-8.
The maximum was clean as a whistle. He didn’t seem to be in trouble or out of position throughout the break. The commentators added a lot of spice to the break too. Rex Williams refused to believe that Hendry was going to make a 147 in the deciding frame. He said that it’s one of the greatest matches he’d ever seen. The 147 would be the icing on the cake. He said during the break, “I thought miracles stopped happening 2,000 years ago!“
As a 7-time and defending World Champion, Hendry should be feeling the pressure. As he previously mentioned, he thrives at being the target man. After he potted the final black, his arms were aloft like a showman and both he and O’Sullivan received a standing ovation.
1. Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. Mick Price (1997)
Whenever someone talks about the ‘best’ maximum ever scored in snooker, you would receive a unanimous response. They would arguably say the greatest ever snooker player in the fastest ever time made ‘that’ 147. This took place in the 1997 World Championship, in the first round match between the Rocket and Mick Price. 21-year-old O’Sullivan was leading 8-5 by that stage. It wasn’t famous for merely being the fastest. The time of 5 minutes and 8 seconds still stands today.
When thinking of the best maximum, some will argue that the fast maximum doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be the best. Yes, that is certainly true. But this break isn’t famous for being the fastest. It was the fluidity. It was the fact that he barely looked out of position at any point in the break. He didn’t look troubled. Every ball didn’t seem to touch the jaw. It is easy to forget that this one is O’Sullivan’s first professional maximum.
Considering nearly every record is being rewritten over the past few years, it’s astonishing that since 1997, this one hasn’t been broken yet. Quite honestly, I doubt the record will ever be beaten.
