Davis claims Six Reds title in Killarney Davis claims Six Reds title in Killarney Updated / Dec. 19, 2009 16:31 Snooker news Mark Davis pocketed a Christmas bonus of €10,000 by winning the inaugural 888sport.com Six Reds World Championship in Killarney tonight. Davis, the world no.47 from Sussex, defeated twice Crucible world champion Mark Williams 6-3 in the final. And it means his six year-old son, Jack, and daughter Millie, aged two, can enjoy an extra special festive period. 'It’s good timing and the kids will be pleased because they know they’ve got a good present coming,' Davis said. 'I played well all through the tournament. I had some luck, which you need with this shorter format, but I made some good breaks in the final. 'With the standard of the players who came here it was always going to be a bit of a lottery as to who won. I’m just happy to be the last man standing. 'I enjoyed the whole week. It was a good tournament and very well run.

Killarney is a lovely place and it’s fair to say I’m a big fan of six reds snooker.' Davis, 37, had previously won two minor invitation events, the 2002 Masters qualifying event and 1996 Malta Masters. To reach the final he beat fellow main tour professionals Gerard Greene, Jamie Cope, Mark Joyce, Joe Swail and Mark King. He twice trailed Williams by a single frame but from 2-2 was the stronger player, knocking in breaks of 71 and 65 on the way to clinching victory. Williams edged Sheffield amateur Adam Duffy 5-4 on the black in the quarter-finals before completing a comfortable 5-1 semi-final defeat of Barry Hawkins. 'I’ve had a good week,' the Welshman said. 'It was more relaxed than the ranking tournaments and Mark played very well from 2-2. He deserved to win. I think all the players have enjoyed this tournament. It’s something different and I’m a fan of the six red format.' Reigning 15 red world champion John Higgins saw his bid to complete a unique double ended by a 5-1 defeat to Mark King in the quarter-finals.

Ken Doherty, beaten by Duffy in the last 32 and one of the tournament organisers, said he was pleased with the first staging of the short form World Championship. 'The feedback I’ve had from the players has been very positive and we’ll definitely be back next year,' he said.

'There’s no doubt that six reds snooker has its place and we hope to be even bigger and better in 2010.' More on Mark Davis – Pro Snooker Blog Highest Ranking: 12th (2013, 2014) Highest Break: 143 (2010 China Open, 2013 International Championship) Career Highlights: 2009, 2012 & 2013 Six Red World Champion, 2012 UK Championship, Wuxi Classic and Australian Goldfields Open semi-finalist, 2014 Australian Goldfields Open semi-finalist, 2010 Shanghai Masters quarter-finalist, 2002 B&H Champion, 2007 German Open Champion Career summary An ever-present on the main tour since the 1991/2 season, whilst Mark has rarely threatened to trouble the very top of the rankings, he is a dangerous player in the qualifying draws and one who has recently played as well as he has done at any point in his career.

Moving slowly up the rankings, Mark first qualified for the World Championship in 1994 where he lost out 10-6 to former world champion Terry Griffiths in the last 32 at the Crucible. He did however make it back a year later when he was to defeat Ken Doherty to make it to the last 16 for the first time where he was defeated 13-7 by Peter Ebdon. His run had at least done enough to move him into the top 60 where he has generally managed to remain ever since. The only exception to date was during a few difficult years towards the end of the 1990’s where he dropped to as low as 77th, though a career-best equalling run to the quarter-finals of the 2001 Regal Scottish Open soon sent him back in the right direction. He followed this up with a win in the non-ranking B&H Championship event in 2002 to qualify for the Masters tournament the following January.

Mark in action at the 2010 Shanghai Masters Recent form Although he was now 36 years old, Mark enjoyed an excellent year in 2008, managing to qualify for his fourth appearance at the Crucible in April, as well as defeating Ding Junhui on the way to the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Trophy just four months later. A significant factor behind this revival would appear to have been the work he has done with leading coach Stephen Feeney , which began midway through the 2007/8 season. Having ironed out certain alignment problems that were affecting his game, he had become a much more dangerous player again and his improved form continued as he was to lose just two first round matches in 2008/9. 2009/10 Following this improved form Mark began the 2009/10 season ranked back inside the world’s top 48 and importantly well up on the one-year rankings.

His results continued to be impressive as he reached the last 48 at the season opening Shanghai Masters before wins over Li Hang, Steve Davis and impressively world number 7 Marco Fu took him all the way to the last 16 of the Grand Prix in Glasgow. At one stage it looked like he might go further as he led Peter Ebdon 3-2 but the 2001 world champion showed his class with breaks of 87, 135 and 64 to progress. Mark could not repeat this run at December’s UK Championship but another opening match win ensured that he would remain well-placed at 31st in the provisional rankings with three events to go. On Q Promotions Despite his consistent form in the ranking events however, the highlight of Mark’s season so far was to come in Killarney as he became the inaugural Six Red World Snooker Champion. Through to the final with victories over the likes of Mark King, Joe Swail, Mark Joyce and Jamie Cope, he then saw off Mark Williams by a 6-3 scoreline. Having collected £10,000 and a world championship trophy, Mark told Global Snooker: “It’s great.

I’ve really enjoyed it here. I had a few lucky rubs in earlier matches which helped, but I made some good breaks in the final. “The venue was superb and the organisation and hospitality was second to none. Now I wish every tournament could be held here and every event be 6-red! “The kids will be delighted. They’ll know they’ll get an extra special Christmas Present now.” His coach Steve Feeney added: “I am delighted for Mark, he has worked so hard and this is just reward for him, a world title is the pinnacle of any player’s career.” 2010/11 Having broken through to the top 32 for the first time at the end of the previous season, Mark continued his excellent form through to 2010/11 as he won matches at each of the first 10 events carrying ranking points. His best run was a semi-final at the PTC3 event before a maiden quarter-final appearance at the Shanghai Masters ensured that he would finish just outside the top 16 at the first mid-season rankings revision.

For a while it appeared as though that Shanghai run could see him go even further but it was not to be as after a tremendous start he was ultimately be denied a first semi-final by Scotland’s Jamie Burnett. Mark at the Southwest Snooker Academy in 2010 From there Mark qualified for the final stages of both the World Open and UK Championship as well as reaching the last 16 of the China Open in Beijing, notably defeating Stephen Maguire in the first round before losing to eventual winner Judd Trump. There was however to be some disappointment as opening round defeats in the German Masters, Welsh Open and importantly the season-ending World Championship to Rory McLeod meant that he could not quite crack the elusive top 16, finishing the season ranked 19th. 2011/12 Mark Davis enjoyed a strong start to the 2011/12 season as he reached the last 16 of the Australian Goldfields Open with victories against Tian Pengfei and Judd Trump, while consistent performances in the early PTC events culminated in a run to the final of PTC4 in Furth where he was only to be denied by Leicester’s Mark Selby.

Unfortunately for Mark however he was to win just four matches from his next five, defeat to Nigel Bond at PTC6 confirming that he would narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 at the first mid-season seedings revision to Martin Gould. Mark during his press conference at the 2011 UK Championship It was to be a similar story during the following months as a last gasp defeat to Ding Junhui on the pink at the last 32 of the UK Championship left him needing 1,800 points from the final two PTC events of 2011 if he was to overhaul Ronnie O’Sullivan for that elusive top 16 place. Agonisingly, although Mark was to put up a great effort, at one stage requiring just one more frame as he led Anthony Hamilton 3-2 at PTC11, it was Anthony who would win the match 4-3 and ensure that Mark would just fall short for a second time in the season. Click here to read my interview with Mark following his successful qualification for the 2011 UK Championship.

After the turn of the year, Mark’s best result came at the PTC Grand Finals where he defeated Tom Ford in the first round before losing to Stephen Maguire, while he also qualified for the final stages of the Welsh Open and the World Championship. Mark was also to enjoy a successful run in the invitational Championship League, winning Group Four with a 3-1 victory against Mark Selby to qualify for the winner’s group. 2012/13 Having narrowly missed out on a place in the top 16 during the previous season, there were those who thought that his best chance of moving up into that bracket had passed as the 2012/13 season got underway. Mark however had other ideas, and made an excellent start by qualifying for the season-opening Wuxi Classic, where he defeated Ding Junhui, Jamie Burnett and Graeme Dott to reach the semi-finals of a full-ranking event for the first time in his career.

Though he lost out narrowly to Stuart Bingham in a deciding-frame, he was not to be disappointed, as the following week he took victory in the invitational 6-Red World Championship, an 8-4 victory against Shaun Murphy sealing his second world title under the shortened format of the game. In action at the UKPTC3 event in Gloucester The victories would keep on coming in Asia as the week after that, he reached his second ranking semi-final at the Australian Goldfields Open, notably defeating local hero Neil Robertson in the last 16, before eventually losing out to eventual champion and friend Barry Hawkins, in a thrilling semi-final. From there Mark would continue to qualify for all of the year’s remaining full-ranking events, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the ET4 event in Bulgaria, before again losing to the eventual winner Judd Trump. Perhaps the highlight of Mark’s year however was to come at the UK Championship, where he made it a hat-trick of semi-finals, with a last 16 victory against four-time world champion a particular high-point.

As well as reinforcing the fact that he is now very much a threat in all of the major tournaments, the result was enough to move him up to 15th in the rankings, finally cracking that elusive top 16 bracket. Following his brilliant run at the Barbican Centre however, Mark was to struggle to maintain his early-season form, losing his opening matches at the Masters, Welsh Open qualifiers and PTC Finals, as well as losing early at the Haikou World Open and China Open tournaments. At the Crucible in 2013 He was to finish the season on a stronger note however, despite having been forced to qualify for the World Championship as a member of the world’s top 16, due to the entry of the lower-ranked defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan. At the qualifiers he was able to win a high-quality match with Liang Wenbo 10-6, before going on to shock four-time champion John Higgins at the Crucible to reach the last 16 stage, where he would lose to friend Stuart Bingham.

2013/14 Though the 2013/14 season would not prove to be quite as successful as the previous season for Mark, he was able to reach further ranking event quarter-finals at the Australian Goldfields Open, Shanghai Masters and German Masters tournaments. Davis at the 2013 ET6 event He was also to enjoy success in invitational events, defeating Neil Robertson to take the General Cup International title in Hong Kong, as well as also seeing off Robertson to maintain his excellent record at the Six Red World Championship and successfully defend his title. His season was to end on a disappointing note however, opening round defeats at the Players Championship Grand Finals, as well at the World Championship at the Crucible, where he lost out 10-5 to Dominic Dale, meant that he would finish the campaign ranked 16th. 2014/15 The 2014/15 season was to be another strong one for Mark as he reached the semi-finals of the Australian Goldfields Open, as well as quarter-finals at the UK Championship, Indian Open and Players Championship events.

Similarly, at European Tour level he also showed strongly to reach the semi-finals of the Lisbon Open just before Christmas, as well as the quarter-finals of ET3 in Bulgaria. Although he missed out on an appearance at the Masters, he also enjoyed a strong run at a number of invitational events, making it through group five of the Championship League, defeating Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final, before losing 3-2 to Stuart Bingham in the overall final. He also reached the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix, again running into Bingham, but his run as Six Red World Champion was brought to an end by Thailand’s Kritsanut Lertsattayatthorn. Having come through three rounds of qualifying, he ended his season at the Crucible with a last 32 defeat to Ding Junhui, dropping three places to 19th in the world rankings. World Championship | Love Snooker World Championship Bookies Free Bets World Championship The World Snooker Championship is a ranking event, established in 1927 and is widely regarded as the leading professional snooker tournament across the world in terms of prize money and ranking points.

The competition is also one of the Triple Crown events and has been televised by the BBC since 1977. The World Championship was created by Joe Davis and was held at various venues, with the final taking place at Camkins Hall, Birmingham. Davis won all the World Championships up to 1946; a record of 15 times that still stands today. Apart from an absence of the tournament during the Second World War years, the World Championship has been played every year. While the World Championship was held by many venues during the early years of its establishment, it found its longstanding and famous home in 1976 when then sponsors Embassy, a cigarette brand, moved the event to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The Crucible is contracted to hold the World Snooker Championships until 2015, recording a total of 38 years in partnership together, and will likely live on there longer than that due to the venue’s popularity and history. The World Championship is a ranking event consisting of 32 players in a knock-out tournament for the finals. 16 of the allotted places are filled up by the top 16 players in the world rankings and are seeded in the appropriate order.

Players entering the tournament through the qualifying rounds fill up the other 16 places. The lowest ranked players must go through a two-round preliminary qualifying stage before entering the main qualifiers, taking place on 5th April at in Sheffield. The main qualifiers consist of a further four rounds and once they have been completed they enter the main draw as un-seeded participants. These qualifiers take place between the 6th and 15th April at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. There have been many successful players who have shone on the Crucible, stage however the frontrunner has to be Stephen Hendry who dominated the 1990’s with an incredible seven titles. Steve Davis who was the first modern era player to truly dominate the World Championships with six titles in the 1980’s, closely follows Hendry. Ronnie O’Sullivan leads the current era with five World Championship wins, while John Higgins has two and Neil Robertson became the first Australian winner in 2010. Champions by Country (modern era.

1969.) England – 17 titles Canada – 1 Republic of Ireland – 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan is the reining World Champion after returning from nearly a year out of the game to retain his title at The Crucible. After defeating Ali Carter 18-11 in 2012’s final, O’Sullivan stated his intentions to take a break from Snooker and upon his return to action in Sheffield had barely played a game. But the Rocket showed that form is only secondary to skill in Snooker as he blasted Marcus Campbell off the table in a 10-4 first round win, beat 2012’s runner-up Carter 13-8 in the second and barely had a challenge from Stuart Bingham in a 13-4 victory in the quarter-finals. Ronnie’s semi-final opponent Judd Trump increased the pressure on the former world number one pre-match but was later made to rue it as The Rocket eased to a 17-11 win. In the final, he had face a player who had had the season of his life in Barry Hawkins.

And it was Hawkins who gave him his biggest challenge of the tournament, allowing Ronnie just a three-frame lead with the scores at 10-7 overnight. The gap remained three frames until O’Sullivan, fluent and precise throughout the tournament with four century breaks, edged the key twentieth game to give himself a 12-8, four-frame lead. Ronnie soon had his fifth century of the final, a feat only achieved by Stephen Hendry (1997), John Higgins (1998) and Matthew Stevens (2000) previously. The frames continued to be shared until O’Sullivan, leading 16-12, finished the match in style with a break of 86, sealing his fitfh World Championship. The World Champion again teased fans with his potential retirement but even if he were to call it a day, Ronnie, who became only the third man to retain at The Crucible, would go down as one of Snooker’s greatest ever players.

Latest News Steve Davis thinks he can prosper at Crucible Steve Davis thinks he can prosper at Crucible Updated / April 23, 2010 09:52 Steve Davis - first round over Mark King Steve Davis believes he can rise to the occasion this evening when he takes on John Higgins in the second round of the Betfred.com World Championship. Victory over Mark King on Tuesday evening meant Davis, 52, became the oldest winner of a Crucible match since Eddie Charlton beat Cliff Thorburn in 1989. That year's championship saw Davis win his sixth and most recent world title, and Higgins is the man who picked up the trophy last year. Davis will certainly not be taking a defeatist attitude into the three-session match, scheduled to conclude on Saturday morning. Davis said: 'I shall be going in to try to win it. 'I've made my mind up, I'm fed up of making up the numbers, so I'm here to try to win, but it's going to be tough against him because he's a hard player. 'Three sessions. Three sessions of granite, that's what I want.

Hopefully I can raise my standard a little bit - it can happen that against a great player you play with nothing to lose.' Davis has not won a major title since 1995, and his last Crucible semi-final appearance came a year prior to that, meaning Higgins - world champion in 1998, 2007 and last year - starts as firm favourite. If the 34-year-old Scot wins, he could face Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals after the Australian came through a stiff test against Fergal O'Brien. From a difficult situation at 6-5 up, Robertson pulled clear to win 10-5. It was slow going at times though, with the pair taking an hour and nine minutes to complete the 13th frame. 'I said to someone after the match that it felt like trying to get a piece of chewing gum out of a carpet,' explained Robertson, who reached last year's semi-finals. 'That frame that went on for nearly an hour and 10 minutes was just absolutely unbelievable.' He added: 'I definitely believe I can do really well this year.' Robertson meets Martin Gould next.

Two former world champions concluded their first-round showdown last night as Scotland's Graeme Dott beat England's Peter Ebdon 10-5. The result means Ebdon drops out of the top 16, which he has been a member of since 1994. Ebdon said: 'I'm bitterly disappointed but also very proud to have been in for so long.' Dott is also out of the top 16 at present, but will jump back in if he reaches the semi-finals. He said: 'I need to win another couple of games, and I'm sure Peter has got the right attitude and he'll bounce back.' China's Ding Junhui crushed Stuart Pettman 10-1, to underline his title credentials, while world number six Ryan Day lost 10-8 to Mark Davis. Hastings potter Davis is already a world snooker champion - of sorts - having landed the six-reds title earlier in Killarney last December. He will face Northern Ireland's Mark Allen in the second round.

Glaswegian Stephen Maguire opened up a 6-3 lead over Trowbridge's Stephen Lee, and 2005 champion Shaun Murphy looked in excellent form as he developed an 8-1 advantage over Gerard Greene. More on SNOOKER SCENE BLOG: SIX REDS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP News, opinion and insight from the green baize 15.8.09 SIX REDS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Killarney in the Republic of Ireland will host snooker's first 6 Reds World Championship in December. The tournament will feature 160 players and be contested at the INEC Arena, which staged a World Series event in May. Among the organisers is Ken Doherty, the 1997 world champion. The event runs from December 15-18. Entry is free for the first three days while tickets will cost 10 euros on the last day, which will be televised. Despite the criticism it has attracted, six reds snooker has been played in clubs for decades.

Last year, a six reds tournament was staged in Thailand and attracted a huge field of top players, so much so that the prize fund for this year's staging of the event was doubled. Jimmy White won the £18,000 first prize in Bangkok last month. World Snooker stages its first six reds event at the end of the month in the Pro Challenge Series. The governing body giving legitimacy to the short form version of the game meant that a World Championship was almost inevitable. It will be interesting to see how many of snooker's best known names take their places in the Killarney draw. If the players embrace six reds then it is, like it or not, here to stay. Posted by Learn and talk about 2010, 2009 in snooker, 2010 in snooker, Seasons in snooker "European Snooker Championships 2009 play-off results" . European Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 10 July 2012. "2009 EBSA International Open" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 10 July 2012.

"25th Asian Snooker Championship 2009" . Cue Sports India. Retrieved 10 July 2012. "10th Asian Under-21 Snooker Championship 2009" . Cue Sports India. Retrieved 10 July 2012. "PIOS 2008/09 Rankings" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 10 July 2012. "Tame Wildcards Announced" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 10 July 2012. "The 2009/2010 Season" . Snooker.org. Retrieved 26 February 2011. ^ "Champion of Champions Challenge (Results)" . Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 8 September 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2009. ^ "Global Snooker: Results and information" . Archived from the original on 29 July 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2009. "Pontins International Open Series" . Chris Turner's Snooker Archive.

Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2010. "PIOS Event 1" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 24 November 2011. "2009 Sangsom 6 Reds Results" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 9 February 2011. "2009 Beijing International Challenge Results" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 17 April 2010. "2009 General Cup International Results" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 17 April 2010. "2009 Paul Hunter English Open" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 24 November 2011. ^ "Detailed Schedule (Billiards)" . The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2010. "2009 World Games (Cue Sports)" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 24 November 2011.

^ "Lucan Racing Irish Classic 2009" . Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2010. "2009/10 PIOS Event Two" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 24 November 2011. "Pro Challenge Series – Event 1 Results" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 17 April 2010. "Paul Hunter Classic 2009" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 24 November 2011. "2009/10 PIOS Event 3" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 24 November 2011. "2009/10 PIOS Event 6" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 24 November 2011. ^ "2010 Championship League: Winners Group results" . Championship League. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2011. "Sanyuan Foods China Open 2010" .

Snooker.org. Retrieved 25 November 2011. "2009/10 PIOS Event 7" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 24 November 2011. "Betfred.com World Championship 2010" . Snooker.org. Retrieved 25 November 2011. "2009/10 PIOS Event 8" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 24 November 2011. ^ Turner, Chris. "Historical World Rankings 2005/06 to 2009/10" . cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 26 February 2011. "World Rankings 2009/2010" . Snooker.org. Retrieved 26 February 2011. "World Rankings - Provisional 2009/10" . Global Snooker. Retrieved 2 December 2010.

Ardalen, Hermund (2010). "Provisional World Rankings 2010/2011" . Snooker.org. Retrieved 2 December 2010. ^ Wikipedia TLDR (too long, didn't read) Wikipedia TLDR Read on Wikipedia Find on Amazon view_weekSummary In snooker, the maximum break (or highest number of points that can be achieved from a break) under normal circumstances is 147. This is often known as a maximum, a 147, or verbally a one-four-seven, and is amassed by potting all fifteen reds with fifteen blacks for 120 points, followed by all six colours for a further 27 points. Joe Davis compiled the first officially recognised maximum break in a 1955 exhibition match in London. In 1982 Steve Davis achieved the first official maximum in professional competition, which was also the first televised one. The following year, Cliff Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum in the World Championship.

Ronnie O'Sullivan holds the record of thirteen competitive maximum breaks and he also has the record for the fastest competitive maximum break at 5 minutes 20 seconds, set at the 1997 World Championship. Maximum breaks have gradually become more commonplace in professional snooker. Only 8 maximums were achieved in the 1980s, but 26 were attained in the 1990s and 35 in the 2000s. Thus far in the 2010s, over 50 maximums have been achieved. The landmark 100th official maximum break in professional competition was achieved by Mark Selby at the UK Championship on 7 December 2013. Breaks greater than 147 are possible in a free ball situation. This has been achieved only once in professional competition, when Jamie Burnett made a 148 break in the qualifying stages of the 2004 UK Championship.

codeFull Article Ronnie O'Sullivan 's maximum at the 1997 World Championship (5 minutes 20 seconds) In snooker , the maximum break (or highest number of points that can be achieved from a break ) under normal circumstances is 147. [1] This is often known as a maximum, a 147, or verbally a one-four-seven, and is amassed by potting all fifteen for a further 27 points. [1] Joe Davis compiled the first officially recognised maximum break in a 1955 exhibition match in London. In 1982 Steve Davis achieved the first official maximum in professional competition, which was also the first televised one. The following year, Cliff Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum in the World Championship . Ronnie O'Sullivan holds the record of thirteen competitive maximum breaks and he also has the record for the fastest competitive maximum break at 5 minutes 20 seconds, set at the 1997 World Championship . Maximum breaks have gradually become more commonplace in professional snooker.

Only 8 maximums were achieved in the 1980s, but 26 were attained in the 1990s and 35 in the 2000s. Thus far in the 2010s, over 50 maximums have been achieved. The landmark 100th official maximum break in professional competition was achieved by Mark Selby at the UK Championship on 7 December 2013. [2] Breaks greater than 147 are possible in a situation. This has been achieved only once in professional competition, when Jamie Burnett made a 148 break in the qualifying stages of the 2004 UK Championship . Contents Milestones[ edit ] Joe Davis compiled the first officially recognised maximum break on Saturday 22 January 1955 in a match against 68-year-old fellow Englishman Willie Smith at Leicester Square Hall , London. [3] The Billiards Association and Control Council initially refused to accept the break since the match was not played under their rules. At the time the professionals played using a rule (now standard) whereby after a foul a player could compel the offender to play the next stroke.

It was only at a meeting on 20 March 1957 that they recognised the break. Davis was presented with a certificate to commemorate his achievement. [4] The match between Davis and Smith was played as part of a series of events marking the closure of Leicester Square Hall. The hall, known as Thurston's Hall until 1947, [5] had hosted many important billiards and snooker matches since its opening in 1901, including 12 World Snooker Championship finals. [6] The final match was a snooker contest, played on level terms, between Joe and Fred Davis from 24 to 29 January but from 17 to 22 January Joe Davis played Willie Smith at both billiards and snooker. In the snooker match Smith received 28 points in each frame but, despite this handicap, Davis won the match by 23 frames to 13. [3] The first official maximum break in professional competition was by Steve Davis in the 1982 Classic at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oldham , against fellow Englishman John Spencer [7] winning a car for the achievement.

[8] This was also the first televised maximum. [9] The following year, Canada's Cliff Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum at the World Championship , in the fourth frame of his second round match against Welsh player Terry Griffiths . [10] For the next 11 seasons, only 14 other official maximum breaks were scored. Starting with 1994/1995, a maximum break has been achieved every single season, with a peak of twelve maximums during the 2011/2012 season. The 100th officially recognised maximum break in professional competition was made on 7 December 2013 by Mark Selby in the 7th frame of his semi-final match at the UK Championship against Ricky Walden . [11] The maximum break has now been officially achieved over a hundred times in professional competition. [12] England's Ronnie O'Sullivan has compiled thirteen ratified competitive maximum breaks, the most by any professional player. [13] Following him are Scotsmen Stephen Hendry and John Higgins with eleven and eight respectively and China's Ding Junhui with six.

O'Sullivan also holds the record for the fastest competitive maximum break at 5 minutes 20 seconds, which he set at the 1997 World Championship . [14] free ball with all fifteen reds still remaining on the table. A break greater than 147 has happened only once in professional competition, when Scotland's Jamie Burnett made a 148 at the qualifying stage of the 2004 UK Championship . [19] England's Jamie Cope attained a break of 155, the highest possible break including a free ball, in a practice frame in 2005. [20] [21] Alex Higgins was said to have attained the same feat. [22] In other variants of snooker the value of the maximum break is different. In six-red snooker , the maximum is only 75 points, as there are fewer reds and thus fewer black-scoring opportunities. In snooker plus the maximum is 210 due to the additional, two high point-value colours, but this has never been achieved due to the distance between the highest value ball and the reds.

[23] (Q) Qualifying rounds The following table is a list of the official maximum breaks that have been achieved in professional competition. [12] [24] [25] Ratified maximum breaks in professional competition No. Players with multiple maximum breaks No. Players with multiple televised maximum breaks No. Televised maximum breaks by country No. Multiple maximum breaks in tournaments No. O'Sullivan, Ronnie Ronnie O'Sullivan TV 4 O'Sullivan, Ronnie Ronnie O'Sullivan TV 6 Muir, Ross Ross Muir (Q) Table legend Records[ edit ] Firsts Joe Davis compiled the first officially ratified 147 against Willie Smith in an exhibition match on 22 January 1955 at Leicester Square Hall , London. [9] [92] The first officially ratified maximum in competition was made by Rex Williams against Manuel Francisco in a match, Professionals v. Amateurs, on 23 December 1965 in Cape Town . [91] [93] The first maximum compiled in professional competition was made by John Spencer on 13 January 1979 at the Holsten Lager Tournament against Cliff Thorburn , but it was not officially ratified due to oversized pockets.

[90] His achievement also wasn't recorded, as the television-crew were away on a tea-break. [91] [94] The first official maximum break in professional competition was made by Steve Davis in the 1982 Classic against Spencer. [90] This was also the first televised 147. [9] In 1983, Cliff Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum break at the World Championships , a feat that has since been repeated by Jimmy White , Stephen Hendry (three times), Ronnie O'Sullivan (three times), Mark Williams and Ali Carter . [39] [95] Cliff Thorburn became, in March 1989, the first player to have made more than one competitive maximum break, while Stephen Hendry became, in November 1995, the first player to have made more than one televised maximum break. [24] [25] Mark Williams became the first person to compile an official maximum break against a woman, at the Rhein–Main Masters in October 2010.

[24] [25] In 2014, Shaun Murphy became the first player to make three maximums in a calendar year at the Ruhr Open , having made one at the Championship League in January and another at the Gdynia Open in February. [58] Multiple maximums More than one official maximum break has been made in the same event on fourteen occasions . However, the 2008 World Snooker Championship is the only event where both maximum breaks were televised, [96] and the 2012 FFB Snooker Open and 2017 German Masters are the only WPBSA ( World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association ) events where two maximums were made on the same day. [34] [75] Three maximum breaks were compiled on 8 February 1998 during the Buckley's Bitter Challenge, by Matthew Stevens , Ryan Day and Tony Chappell .

[97] The only time this has been achieved during a WPBSA event was at the 2012 UK Championship , when Andy Hicks and Jack Lisowski compiled one each in qualifying, and John Higgins compiled one at the last 16 of the televised stages. [81] There have been at least four matches where more than one maximum was compiled. Peter Ebdon compiled two maximum breaks during an 11-frame exhibition match at Eastbourne Police Club on 15 April 1996. In 2003 he also compiled two consecutive maximum breaks against Steve Davis in an exhibition match. [90] [91] In 2009 Jimmy White and Ronnie O'Sullivan compiled consecutive maximum breaks at an exhibition match in Ireland. [98] Mark King and Joe Jogia achieved the same feat at the Grove Open later in the same year. [99] The only player known to compile more than two maximum breaks on a single occasion is Adrian Gunnell , who compiled three maximums in four frames at a club in Telford in 2003 while practising against Ian Duffy .

[100] [101] Higgins and O'Sullivan are the only players to record maximum breaks in consecutive ranking events. Higgins made one during his defeat by Mark Williams in the LG Cup final, and then one in his second round match at the British Open in 2003. [102] [103] O'Sullivan made one at the Northern Ireland Trophy and another at the UK Championship in 2007. [85] [104] Since top 16 players were seeded through to the second round at the 2003 British Open, Higgins' maximums also came in consecutive ranking matches, albeit not in the same tournament. Higgins' maximum breaks at the 2003 LG Cup and 2004 Grand Prix made him the first and only player to record maximums in the same tournament in successive years (the LG Cup being the sponsor's name for that year's Grand Prix). Since Higgins made the maximums in the 2003 final and the 2004 first round, he made maximums in successive rounds of the same tournament but not at the same event.

[105] Final frames and matches Hendry, Mark Williams, O'Sullivan (on five occasions), Barry Hawkins , Matthew Stevens, Ding Junhui , Andy Hicks, Shaun Murphy , Ryan Day, John Higgins and Mark Davis have all made maximums to win matches. Only three of these have come in final-frame deciders, however: Hendry's at the 1997 Charity Challenge, O'Sullivan's at the 2007 UK Championship and Davis's at the 2017 Championship League. See #Match-winning maximum breaks for complete list. Only Hendry, John Higgins, Stuart Bingham , Ronnie O'Sullivan, Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson have made maximums in finals of tournaments.

Hendry has made three: the first at the 1997 Charity Challenge, [83] the second at the 1999 British Open [106] and the third at the 2001 Malta Grand Prix ; [107] Higgins has made two: the first at the 2003 LG Cup [102] and the second at the 2012 Shanghai Masters ; [108] Bingham at the 2012 Wuxi Classic ; [109] O'Sullivan at the 2014 Welsh Open ; [89] Murphy at the 2014 Ruhr Open [58] and Robertson at the 2015 UK Championship . Robertson's maximum is the only one to be compiled in the final of a Triple Crown event. [65] Chronometrical Ronnie O'Sullivan compiled the fastest maximum break in snooker, which took 5 minutes and 20 seconds recorded in the first round of the 1997 World Championship .

[110] [111] Michael White compiled the fastest maximum break in six-red snooker, it took 2 minutes and 28 seconds in the group stage of the 2009 Six-red World Championship . [110] [112] The youngest player to make a 147 in any competition is Judd Trump at the Potters Under-16 Tournament at the age of 14 years and 206 days. [110] The youngest player to make an official 147 in professional competition is Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon at the 2010 Rhein–Main Master at the age of 16 years and 312 days. [110] The youngest player to have made a televised 147 is Ding Junhui at the age of 19 years and 9 months in the 2007 Masters . [113] [114] The oldest player to make an official maximum in professional competition is Mark Davis , who compiled one in the 2017 Championship League at the age of 44 years old.

[76] , then all the colours. [90] [123] In 1997 Eddie Manning achieved a 149 break in a practice match against Kam Pandya at Willie Thorne's Snooker Club in Leicester. Like Drago he took brown, brown, 13 blacks, pink and blue. [90] In April 2003 Jamie Cope made a 151 break at The Reardon Snooker Club during a practice game with David Fomm-Ward. After a foul by his opponent, Cope was snookered behind the brown ball. He took the brown as the free ball and then potted the blue, 13 reds with blacks and two with pinks, then the six colours. [90] In the middle of 2005, Jamie Cope made snooker's first maximum 155 break in a witnessed practice frame. [124] In November 2010 Sam Harvey made a 151 break in a practice match against Kyren Wilson at his home club in Bedford .

Harvey potted the brown as the free ball and then the black, 12 reds with blacks, two with pinks and one with blue, then the six colours. [90] [125]

Question: In Killarney, Ireland, Mark Davis became the the first 'Six-Red' world champion in which sport?
Answer: Snooker