Ben Woollaston compiled the 110th competitive 147 in snooker yesterday but failed to reach the last 16 of the inaugural Lisbon Open in Portugal.
The Englishman constructed the perfect break in the third frame of his 4-0 victory over amateur Joe Steele before being knocked out by Peter Ebdon in a decider.
Woollaston becomes the latest player to join the exclusive maximum club and will pocket £500 for his efforts should the feat not be matched this weekend.
While 147s are more common now than they were a couple of decades ago, it remains a considerable accomplishment that is something to be proud of.
Since the influx of new tournaments in the Barry Hearn era, there has tended to be a plethora of maximums either just before or just after the New Year period as the majority of the competitors approach their peak form of the season.
2002 world champion Ebdon, who has twice made a 147 break himself, went on to beat Michael Holt to reach round four on Sunday.
Following years of failure in the minor-ranking events, the 44 year-old has excelled in the shorter format during this campaign with a semi-final and two last eight appearances already to his name across both satellite tours.
The Englishman will play Barry Hawkins next after victories over Chris Norbury, Rory McLeod and Andrew Higginson for the Hawk.
Elsewhere, Judd Trump bounced back from the disappointment of his narrow defeat to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the UK Championship final with a hat-trick of triumphs.
The Australian Open champion was in high-scoring mood when he registered back-to-back whitewash wins over Tom Ford and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, before ousting Mark Williams in a 4-3 thriller.
Trump will face Aditya Mehta for a quarter-final spot after the Indian did his chances of breaking into the top 24 in the European Order of Merit – of which qualification for the lucrative Players Championship is assured – no harm after successes over Hammad Miah, Elliot Slessor and Sam Baird.
Meanwhile, Welshman Jamie Jones showed glimpses of some form in victories over Jimmy White and Xiao Guodong and will play Joe Perry next, while countryman Dominic Dale set up a clash with Matthew Selt.
There was a lot of excitement and goodwill surrounding Portugal becoming the 11th country to host a European Tour event but the opening day didn’t go without hitches.
By all accounts, it appears that the arena was freezing, which resulted in many numb hands and shivering bodies.
In addition, Eurosport, which is to show blanket coverage over the three days, had large technical issues on Friday which led to a lot of what was supposed to be live play being lost.
Let’s hope the remainder of the weekend runs a little smoother.
