Mark Allen compiled an incredible 147 break during his second-round match with Chris Wakelin at the 2025 World Snooker Championship on Friday.
Trailing 2-10 in a race to 13 and with his chances of winning the tournament seemingly fading, Allen went all out for the maximum.
The Northern Irishman ran into trouble on several occasions but pulled off a string of brilliant recovery shots to keep the break alive.
He stands to earn £40,000 for producing the 147 break at the Crucible Theatre and will also share the £15,000 high break prize for the tournament with Jackson Page, who made two in the qualifying competition.
The Pistol was already in trouble in his last-16 match when he returned for the second session of the contest 6-2 behind.
A terrible missed yellow off its spot in the ninth frame gifted Wakelin an opening to move five frames in front.
The latter subsequently played terrific snooker to win the following three in quick fashion and enter the mid-session interval with a commanding eight-frame advantage.
At this point, there were genuine concerns that Allen might bow out of the running this year with a session to spare.
Yet the 39 year-old got in quickly in the 13th frame when they returned from the brief respite and quickly got in among the balls around the black spot area.
Running out of position, he was forced to play a couple of tricky thin blacks and also conjured a terrific plant that spread the bunched reds perfectly.
Despite almost snookering himself on the yellow behind the blue, Allen could just about sneak his way past and proceeded to pot the final six colours to huge roars from the crowd.
147 breaks at the Crucible Theatre
Cliff Thorburn: 1983
Jimmy White: 1992
Stephen Hendry: 1995
Ronnie O’Sullivan: 1997
Ronnie O’Sullivan: 2003
Mark Williams: 2005
Ronnie O’Sullivan: 2008
Ali Carter: 2008
Stephen Hendry: 2009
Stephen Hendry: 2012
John Higgins: 2020
Neil Robertson: 2022
Kyren Wilson: 2023
Mark Selby: 2023
Mark Allen: 2025
Mark Allen becomes the 11th player to make a 147 break at the Crucible Theatre, and it’s the 15th overall to be compiled at the venue stages of a World Snooker Championship.
It represents the fifth maximum of his career on the main tour, and it also makes him the first player to complete the Triple Crown set of 147 breaks.
Allen compiled a 147 at the 2016 UK Championship and repeated the feat at the Masters in London last year.
The Antrim man, who won this season’s Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, would earn an even bigger bonus worth £147,000 if he could make a second 147 break at this World Championship.
But he probably won’t have many opportunities to do so as he ended the second session 12-4 behind, with Wakelin within one frame of a place in the quarter-finals.
A lucky Crucible fan, meanwhile, will also collect a tidy £25,000 cheque on the back of Allen’s magical moment in Sheffield.
New event sponsor Midnite introduced the incentive for this year’s edition of the World Snooker Championship.
One supporter in the audience is picked out at random before each session, with the golden ticket holder pocketing the jackpot sum if a maximum break is then made.
For the full 2025 World Snooker Championship draw, results, and schedule, click here.
Featured image credit: WST
The supporter is called Brian but not the famous Coventry City fan Brian Wright that seems to be present this year wearing glasses this year.