John Higgins 147: Former champion makes 11th World Championship maximum
Last updated on .From the section Snooker
| Betfred World Championship |
|---|
| Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 31 July-16 August |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Red Button, with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. Full details and times. |
Former champion John Higgins made the 11th maximum 147 break at the World Championship during his second-round match against Norway's Kurt Maflin.
Higgins, 45, bumped elbows with Maflin to celebrate what was his 10th career maximum but his first at the Crucible.
The Scot is the seventh player to make a World Championship 147 and the first since Stephen Hendry in 2012.
The break came in the 12th frame and helped Higgins draw level at 8-8 at the end of the session.
With no crowd in the Crucible Theatre because of the coronavirus pandemic, there was no standing ovation or cheering to mark the achievement, although there was the applause of the 'fake crowd' noise.
Higgins himself hardly celebrated as he walked off for the mid-session interval trailing 7-5.
The clearance puts the four-time world champion in line for a £40,000 bonus for the maximum, as well as the £15,000 highest break prize.
"That was incredible," said BBC TV analyst Joe Perry. "There was nothing else to put on his CV apart from the Crucible 147 and now he's done it.
"Crowd or no crowd, making a 147 is special because you have to be perfect on every shot."
Higgins predicted there would be a 147 before the championship and stated that this year's tournament could be the best ever in terms of standard.
The fifth seed continued to fight back after the interval and levelled the match by winning the final two frames.
The best-of-25 match plays to a finish at 19:00 BST on Thursday.
On the other table, Thailand's Noppon Saengkham opened up a surprise 5-3 lead over three-time champion Mark Selby.
'The biggest buzz as a snooker player'
Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry on BBC Two:
"Obviously it's a little bit surreal with no crowd there because when there are two or three reds left, they tend to clap every single shot, they know what is going on and the atmosphere just builds.
"It is the biggest buzz you can have as a snooker player. Winning the World Championship is amazing, it is the culmination of 17 days of hard work but a 147 is just special.
"It is such a rare thing to happen at the Crucible it is such a thrill to make one there."
Maximums at the World Championship
Higgins joins six others in making a 147 break on the biggest stage of all:
- Canada's Cliff Thorburn was the first player to do it in 1983
- Jimmy White made the second 147 in 1992
- Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan have both made three 147s
- O'Sullivan's first 147 in 1997 took just five minutes and eight seconds
- Mark Williams and Ali Carter are the other players to have achieved it
- O'Sullivan and Carter both made 147s in 2008 - the only time two have been made in the same championship
- All 10 previous World Championship 147s
- Full tournament schedule and results
- BBC coverage times and channels
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