Fan Zhengyi compiles snooker season’s first 147 break

Fan Zhengyi knocked in the first 147 break of the fledgling 2025/26 snooker season at Championship League Snooker on Thursday.

The former European Masters champion made the perfect break in the second frame of his round-robin contest with Xu Si in Group 29.

Fan’s second maximum moment represents the 218th that has been competitively made on the World Snooker Tour.

A record 15 maximums were compiled during the recent 2024/25 campaign.

Fan’s 147 break proved unimportant in the grander scheme of things, however, with the Chinese potter exiting the competition with a haul of just two points.

Xu instead topped Group 29 with a record of two victories and a draw, beating Michal Szubarczyk and Liam Highfield before securing a tie with Fan to safeguard his spot in the last 32.

In Group 27, meanwhile, Dylan Emery progressed with a similar seven-point total.

The Welshman could only draw his opening fixture of the day against Canadian rookie Sahil Nayyar.

But triumphs over Gary Thomson and Aaron Hill followed, with Emery leapfrogging the latter into first at the end of play.

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Stage Two Draw

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Joe O’Connor	Zhang Anda	Pang Junxu	Jack Lisowski
Elliot Slessor	Stephen Maguire	Lei Peifan	Xu Si
Haydon Pinhey	Yuan Sijun	Robbie Williams	David Lilley
Ng On Yee	Thepchaiya Un-Nooh	Alfie Burden	Artemijs Zizins
Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H
Chris Wakelin	Stuart Bingham	Ben Mertens	Tom Ford
David Gilbert	Matthew Selt	Amir Sarkhosh	Wu Yize
Ricky Walden	Liam Davies	Sam Craigie	Matthew Stevens
Liu Hongyu	Dylan Emery	Yao Pengcheng	Liu Wenwei

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Xu Si and Dylan Emery complete the lineup for Stage Two, which will finally commence on Friday in Leicester.

Group A will see Joe O’Connor, Elliot Slessor, Ng On Yee, and Haydon Pinhey rejoin the fray.

Zhang Anda – the highest ranked player still in the hunt for glory – returns in Group B alongside Stephen Maguire, Yuan Sijun, and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.

Championship League Snooker represents the opening ranking event of the fledgling 2025/26 snooker season.

The overall winner on July 23rd will take home £33,000 worth of prize money and ranking points, plus a ticket to the lucrative Champion of Champions invitational later this year.

Live coverage is available for Ireland and UK viewers on the Matchroom Multi Sport and Matchroom Pool YouTube channels.

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Thursday’s Results

Group 27
Aaron Hill 3-0 Gary Thomson
Dylan Emery 2-2 Sahil Nayyar
Dylan Emery 3-0 Gary Thomson
Aaron Hill 3-0 Sahil Nayyar
Gary Thomson 3-1 Sahil Nayyar
Dylan Emery 3-0 Aaron Hill

Table
1. Dylan Emery – 7 points
2. Aaron Hill – 6 points
3. Gary Thomson – 3 points
4. Sahil Nayyar – 1 point

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Group 29
Xu Si 3-0 Michal Szubarczyk
Liam Highfield 3-1 Fan Zhengyi
Fan Zhengyi 2-2 Michal Szubarczyk
Xu Si 3-1 Liam Highfield
Liam Highfield 3-1 Michal Szubarczyk
Xu Si 2-2 Fan Zhengyi

Table
1. Xu Si – 7 points
2. Liam Highfield – 6 points
3. Fan Zhengyi – 2 points
4. Michal Szubarczyk

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Featured photo credit: WST