Maximum break | Snooker Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit The highest break possible is 155. This can occur when an opponent fouls but leaves the player snookered on all 15 reds. The player can nominate one of the other colours as a red, known as a "free ball", which carries the same value as a red for just that shot. By potting the free ball followed by a colour, then all the reds with colours, and then the colours up to the pink or black, the player can compile a break of more than 147. If the free ball is followed by a black, and the player goes on to clear the table taking all blacks with the reds and then all six colours, the total score for the break is 155. Breaks exceeding 147 Edit At least eight breaks in excess of 147 have been recorded. A 151 is reported to have been compiled by Wally West against Butch Rogers in West London's Hounslow Luciana snooker club during a club match in 1976. After Rogers fouled, Wally took the green as his free ball followed by the brown.

He then took 14 red and blacks and a pink off the last red. He then cleared up to make the 151. In April 1988 Steve Duggan made a 148 in a practice frame against Mark Rowing in Doncaster. In 1993 Stephen Hendry made a 148 in a practice match against Alfie Burden . In 1995 Tony Drago made a 149 in practice against Nick Manning in West Norwood, London in 1995, that was recorded by the Guinness Book of Records as the highest in this category. In that match Drago nominated the brown as the free ball, to score one point. He then potted the brown again, for four more points, before potting 13 reds and 13 blacks, a red and a pink, a red and a blue, then all the colours. In 1997 Eddie Manning achieved a 149 in a practice match against Kam Pandya at Willie Thorne's in Leicester. Like Drago he took brown, brown, 13 blacks, pink and blue.

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 blue, 13 reds with blacks and two with pinks, then the six colours. In October 2004, during qualifying for the UK Championship , Jamie Burnett achieved a 148 against Leo Fernandez , becoming the first player to achieve a break of more than 147 in professional competition. He took the brown as the free ball and then potted the brown again, followed by the 15 reds with 12 blacks, two pinks and a blue, then the six colours. Prizes Edit In professional tournaments, there is usually a substantial prize awarded to any player achieving a 147 break, typically was an amount containing "147", e.g. £147, £1,470, £14,700 or £147,000 depending on the prestige of the tournament.

As an extreme case, Ronnie O'Sullivan 's 1997 maximum earned him £165,000 (£147,000 of this was for making the 147 break and another £18,000 was for achieving the highest break of the tournament). In six-red snooker only the fastest maximum earns a prize money. List of official maximum 147s in professional competition 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 (twice), Ronnie O'Sullivan (three times), Mark Williams and Ali Carter . Hendry and O'Sullivan are the only players to have made a maximum break during the World Championships and then go on to win the title – Hendry in 1995 and O'Sullivan in 2008 O'Sullivan compiled each of the five fastest 147 breaks ever recorded, the fastest of which took 5 minutes and 20 seconds recorded in the 1st round of the 1997 World Championship .

Michael White compiled the fastest 75 break, it took 2 minutes and 28 seconds in the group stage of the 2009 Six-red World Championship . Hendry, O'Sullivan and Mark Williams are the only players who have made maximums to win matches. Hendry compiled a maximum in the final at the 1997 Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge winning him the title, Williams at the 2005 World Championship , and O'Sullivan at the 2007 UK Championship and 2008 World Championship . Two of these were made in the deciding frame of the match: Hendry's in the 1997 Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge final and O'Sullivan's maximum at the 2007 UK Championship in the semi-final. Only Hendry and John Higgins have made maximums in finals of tournaments. Hendry has made three, the first in the final of the 1997 Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge, the second at the 1999 British Open and the third at the 2001 Malta Grand Prix . Higgins made a maximum in the final of the 2003 LG Cup .

Higgins became the first and only player to record a 147 in successive ranking events and matches; he made one in his 9–5 defeat by Mark Williams in the LG Cup final at Preston, and then one in his first match at the British Open , both in 2003. 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. The youngest player to make an official 147 in professional competition is Stephen Maguire at the 2000 Scottish Open qualifiers just a week after his 19th birthday. The youngest player to have made a televised 147 is Ding Junhui , who was 19 years and 7 months at the time, in the 2007 Masters .

The youngest player to make a 147 in the televised stages of a ranking event was Jamie Cope at 21 years and 1 month old at the 2006 Grand Prix . The oldest player to make a maximum in professional competition is Cliff Thorburn, who was 41 during the 1989 Matchroom League . The oldest player to have made a 147 in a world ranking event is Stephen Hendry, who made his maximum break at the 2009 World Championship at the age of 40. On April 29, 2008 Ali Carter made his first 147 break against Peter Ebdon in their quarter-final match of the 2008 World Championships . This was the first time a 147 break had been made twice in the same professional tournament at the same venue, following O'Sullivan's maximum during the previous day's play. Two maximum breaks were previously compiled by Stephen Hendry and John Parrott during the 1992 Matchroom League but at different venues.

Cliff Thorburn is the first player to have made more than one competitive maximum break and Stephen Hendry is the first player to have made more than one televised maximum break. Joe Swail compiled the first competitive maximum break to be made on the Continent, during a Belgian tournament in Brussels in December 1993. He was playing R. Melkenbeek, a local amateur. List of matches where more than one 147 was compiled World Records - snooker.org Awards | Odd Stuff | World Records | Managers Snooker World Records Here are the (unofficial) snooker world records that I have collected. If you notice any errors or know of any other records, please let me know. World Championships Most Titles The World Professional Championship (instituted 1927) was won a record 15 times by Joe Davis, on the first 15 occasions it was contested 1927-40 and 1946.

The most wins in the Amateur Championships (instituted 1963) have been two by; Gary Owen in 1963 and 1966; Ray Edmonds 1972 and 1974; and Paul Mifsud (Malta) 1985-86. Allison Fisher (b. 24 Feb 1968) has won seven Women's World Championships, 1985-86, 1988-89, 1991, 1993-94. Maureen Baynton (née Barrett) won a record eight Women's Amateur Championships between 1954 and 1968, as well as seven at billiards. Youngest The youngest man to win a world title is Michael White (Wales) (b. 5 Aug 1991) who was 14 yr 210 days when he won the World Amateur Snooker Championships in Prestatyn, Wales on 3 Mar 2006. Stephen Hendry (Scotland) (b.

13 Jan 1969) became the youngest World Professional Champion, at 21 yr 106 days on 29 Apr 1990. Stacey Hillyard (b. 5 Sep 1969) won the Women's World Amateur Championship in October 1984 at the age of 15. Highest Breaks Maximum Breaks The first to achieve the maximum break of 147 was E.J. Murt O'Donoghue (New Zealand) (1901-94) at Griffiths, New South Wales, Australia on 26 Sep 1934. The first officially ratified 147 was by Joe Davis against Willie Smith at Leicester Square Hall, London on 22 Jan 1955. The first achieved in a major tournament were by John Spencer (b. 18 Sep 1935) at Slough, Berks on 13 Jan 1979, but the table had oversized pockets, and by Steve Davis (b.

22 Aug 1957) who had a ratified break of 147 against John Spencer in the Lada Classic at Oldham, Greater Manchester on 11 Jan 1982. This was also the first televised maximum. The youngest to score a competitive maximum was Judd Trump (b. Aug 1989) at 14 yr 206 days days in an under-16 series match against Chris Piech at the Potters Club in Coalville on 13 Mar 2004. Ronnie O'Sullivan (b. 5 Dec 1975) made a maximum at 15 yr 98 days during the English Amateur Championship (Southern Area) at Aldershot, Hants on 13 Mar 1991. Cliff Thorburn (Canada) (b. 16 Jan 1948) was first to make two tournament 147 breaks on 23 Apr 1983 (the first in the World Professional Championships) and 8 Mar 1989. Peter Ebdon (b.

27 Aug 1979) and James Wattana (Thailand) (b. 17 Jan 1970) have also achieved this feat. Ronnie O'Sullivan have the most maximums in the professional game with 13 ahead of Stephen Hendry who has 11. O'Sullivan's latest came at the 2014 Coral UK Championship , in the last frame of the last-16 match against Matthew Selt (England). Stephen Hendry became the first to make more than two tournament 147s. Hendry's first was made in the European League and his second in the 1995 World Championship . The record-breaking third came on 25 Nov 1995 in the UK Championship .

Not content with this he made his fourth maximum on 5 Jan 1997 in the 1997 Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge and his fifth on 23 May 1998 in the 1998 Dr Martens Premier League , his sixth on 19 Sep 1999 in the final of the 1999 British Open (the first maximum in a ranking final), his seventh on (21-23) November in 1999 in the 1999 Liverpool Victoria UK Championship , his eighth on 25 Feb 2001 in the final of the 2001 Rothmans Grand Prix, his ninth on 28 Apr 2009 in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Betfred.com World Championship , his 10th in the second round of the 2011 Wyldecrest Park Homes Welsh Open and his 11th in the first round of the 2012 Betfred.com World Championship ! Leo Levitt was the first amateur to achieve the maximum break, in november 1948 at the Windsor Bowling alley in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Geet Sethi (India) was the first one to manage one in competition, in the Indian Amateur Championships on 21 Feb 1988. In the World Junior Championship in Iceland (June 1989) Gary Hill made a maximum break at the age of 20 years 8 months and became the youngest player to achieve this in a WPBSA recognised competion. In April 2002 the New Zealand No2, amateur Harry Haenga, father of national champion Daniel Haenga, scored a 147 off the break against Glenn Gemmel at the Porirua Club, near Wellington, New Zealand. This was not in a tournament but was witnesses by two A Grade players, one of whom is a NZ representative and the other is a Referee. Ronnie O'Sullivan and Jimmy White made 147s in consecutive frames during an exhibition in Ireland, in January 2009. Peter Ebdon made 147s in two consecutive frames during an exhibition match against Steve Davis in 2003. 16 Red Ball Clearances In Competition The highest snooker break in competition is Wally West's 151.

He made the break in the final of a club handicap at the Hounslow Lucania Club in 1976 against Derek "Butch" Rogers, in front of about 100 spectators. The qualified referee John Posner was in charge of the match. Wally won the first frame with the aid of a 104. In the second, Butch clipped the blue and left Wally snookered. Wally potted green as his free ball with a brown to follow. He then took 14 red and blacks and a pink off the last red. He then cleared up to make the 151. Jamie Burnett (Scotland) made a break of 148 on 16 October 2004, at the Prestatyn qualifiers for the Travis Perkins UK Championship. This was the first break over 147 in professional snooker. Burnett made the break in the 14th frame of his match against Leo Fernandez. He potted the brown as the extra red, then another brown followed by the 15 reds and all the colours.

He made a blue on the first red, a pink on the last one and another pink on one of the other reds. The rest went with blacks. He went on to win the match 9-8. The first 16 red clearance in a tournament was by Steve James (b. 2 May 1961) who made 135 against Alex Higgins in the World Professional Championships at Sheffield, S Yorks on 14 Apr 1990. Steve Duggan (b. 10 Apr 1958) made a witnessed break of 148 against Mark Rowing in a local handicap tournament at in the Woodlands Snooker Club, Woodlands, Doncaster, S Yorks on 27 Apr 1988. The Guinness Book of Records got it wrong at the time, saying it was in a practise match. Phil Doody was the referee in the aforementioned match. The week before the match Rowing, made a 155 break against Doody, in a practise frame, on the same table, in the same club! Unfortunately, as only Rowing and Doody were present, the Guinness Book of Records, wouldn't record it.

Dean Reynolds (England) had a 16 red clearance of 143 in the seniors event of the 2006 European Team championships, in Carlow, Ireland. 6 December 2008 Ricky Walden (England) made a 16 red clearance of 141 against Mark Davis (England) in the last qualifying round for the 2008 Maplin UK Championship. The event was held at The World Snooker Academy in EIS (English Institute of Sport) Sheffield. He won the frame 149-0. It was the thirteenth frame of the best-of-17 match, which he lost 7-9. Others In 2006 Jamie Cope became the first player to record a 155 break. He did it in a witnessed practice match. Jamie is a professional snooker player from Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire, England. On 23 April 2003 Cope had made a 151 break on the match table at The Reardon Snooker Club (Hanley Stoke-on-Trent) during a practise game with David Fomm-Ward.

After a foul shot by his opponent Jamie was snookered behind the Brown ball. He took the Brown as the free ball and then potted Blue, 8 Red and 8 Black, 2 Red and 2 Pink, 5 Red and 5 Black. Then cleared all the colours. He was 17 years old at the time. Teenager Sam Harvey scored a break of 151 during a practice match at his home club in Bedford in November 2010. The 17-year-old was playing tour professional Kyren Wilson when he registered the score. After a foul from his opponent early in the frame, Harvey was left with a free ball, and potted the brown to a centre pocket, gaining position on the black. He then spilt the reds open and went on to pot all 15, taking 12 more blacks, two pinks and a blue before clearing the colours. In 1995 Tony Drago's (Malta) (b. 22 Sep 1965) made a 149 in a practice match against Nick Manning at the West Norwood Snooker Club. Drago broke off and snookered Manning behind the brown.

Manning tried to escape from the snooker but left a free ball. Drago took the brown as the free ball and then the brown again for four more points and followed that with 15 reds, 13 blacks, a pink and a blue and all the colours. Eddie Manning (Leicester, England) also achieved a 149, in 1997 at Willie Thorne's in Leicester. His practice partner was Kam (or Kan?) Pandya. Manning. Like Drago he took brown, brown, 13 blacks, pink and blue. Stephen Hendry made a 148 in practice vs Alfie Burden in 1993. In 1976 Alex Higgins knocked in a 146 vs Willie Thorne in a Challenge Match. He had brown, green, 10 blacks and 5 pinks. Cliff Thorburn managed a 139 in practice against Geoff Foulds in 1980. Other High Breaks and Most Unanswered Points Kelly Fisher is the leader among the women. She has a 143 in competition and 20+ 147's in practice.

Four consecutive century breaks were first compiled in a major tournament by John Higgins : 103, 104, 138 and 128, in Preston, England on Sun 16th October 2005. He achieved the feat in the final of the 2005 Grand Prix , against Ronnie O'Sullivan . Shaun Murphy (England) equalled the feat in the 2007 Welsh Open , Feb 14 2007, in Newport Centre, Wales. He beat Jamie Cope 5-0 in the second round and won the first four frames with 135, 110, 102 and 101. Three consecutive century breaks were first compiled in a ranking tournament by Steve Davis : 108, 101 and 104 at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs on 10 Sep 1988. In 1998 John Higgins (Scotland) (b. 18th May 1975) became the first to manage the feat in a World Championship match.

Peter Ebdon became the first to make four century breaks in five frames, in the European Open qualifying competition at Blackpool on 6 Sep 1992. Stephen Hendry made seven centuries in the final of the 1994 UK Championship , which is a record in a professional match. He also became the first player ever to make five centuries in seven frames. In the 2004 British Open Stephen Maguire (Scotland) made five consecutive centuries over two matches. He finished his quarter-final match against Anthony Hamilton with three centuries and started his semi-final against Ronnie O'Sullivan with two more. Mark Allen (N.Ireland) has also made five consecutive century breaks, at the Larne Masters, in the Fountain Club in Larne, Northern Ireland, 23 January 2005. Allen finished off his second round match against Stephen Smith with a 117, before rattling in breaks of 134, 120 and 104 to beat Declan Hughes 3-0. He then began his quarter-final match against Robert McCullough with a 116.

Just for good measure, Mark had begun his match against Smith with a 111 break, making it a phenomenal six centuries in seven frames. In the 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy Ronnie O'Sullivan made five centuries - the first time that has ever been achieved in a ranking event best-of-nine match. The third-round match, which he won 5-2, was played 8 November against Allister Carter (England). Ronnie warmed up with 108, 122 and 107 intaking a 3-1 lead before a 147. Carter pulled one frame back then O'Sullivan closed with a 129 total clearance. John Higgins won the 2005 Grand Prix in Preston and rewrote the record books in the process. In his final demolition of Ronnie O'Sullivan (9-2) he knocked in four consecutive century breaks (103, 104, 138 and 128), a feat never to have been accomplished in professional ranking tournaments.

Higgins also broke the "points unanswered" record in a ranking event (previously set by Stephen Hendry , 487 in the 1996 Wembley Masters against Jimmy White ). Higgins scored 494 points without a reply from O'Sullivan. This record was later beaten by Stuart Bingham (England) who made 547 against Sam Baird in the 2016 China Open . Ronnie O'Sullivan has the all-time record with 556 points in the 2014 Masters final . snookergames: Answers to submitted questions - Page 15 Page 16 PAGE 15 Page 14 Posted on 27th July 2002 by Andrew Cummins of Cambridge. I would like to know if there has ever been a snooker match that has been played over 140 frames or more in competition? There have been several, all finals of the World Professional Snooker Championships.

1946: Joe Davis beat Horace Lindrum 78 - 67 1947: Walter Donaldson beat Fred Davis 82 - 63 1948: Fred Davis beat Walter Donaldson 84 - 61 1949: Fred Davis beat Walter Donaldson 80 - 65 1952: Horace Lindrum beat Clark McConachy 94 - 49 The 1952 final is no longer considered "official" as all the other professional players of the time boycotted the event. Posted on 20th July 2002 by Peter Western of Norwich. What is the best way to clean snooker balls? Use "Flash" (the same stuff you use for floors) disolved in warm water, and dry them with a soft cloth. "Flash" will disolve any grease and not leave a film on them as washing up liquid would. Posted on 20th July 2002 by Mick McGough of Greenford, Middlesex. A player is granted a free ball with only the blue, pink and black left.

He nominates the pink which he plays onto the blue potting the blue and the pink. Is this a foul? No, it would be a perfectly legal shot. The player would score five points only, and the pink would then be replaced on its own spot. The reason only five points would be scored although in effect two "blues" were potted, is because there is deemed to be only one blue ball in the game, and it can only be potted once in any one stroke. Posted on 22nd June 2002 by Gavin Wright of Enfield, North London. How do I remove and re-tip a cue? The old tip can be removed quite easily with a pen knife or the side of a file. Once it's off remove all traces of the old tip and any glue to leave a clean surface. You should then roughen this slightly either with sandpaper or the edge of a metal file and do the same to the base of the new tip. The glue you use is a personal choice. You may prefer to use a contact adhesive like Evo-stick, or super glue. Whichever you use simply follow the instructions. Once the glue has set you may need to trim the tip.

If it is wider than the ferrule hold the cue vertically upside down so the tip is resting on a solid surface. Then cut away the excess with a very sharp knife. This will create a flat square tip that needs to be rounded off. (The benefits of using a rounded tip are explained here ) Hold the cue upright and use a metal file to round off the edge of the tip. Hold the file at an angle of approximately 45° to begin with and turn the cue as you file so you take the edge off evenly. This will give you sharpish edges so simply file those away until you have a nicely rounded dome. Before carrying out any of this you should always protect the ferrule and the last two or three inches of the cue with masking tape. Posted on 8th June 2002 by Robert McLean of Chadds Ford, USA. What are the minimum recommended room dimensions to accommodate a full size snooker table? The minimum dimensions have always been recommended as being 24ft by 18ft. You need a clear space 6ft around each side of the table to play but this is hardly realistic as it allows no room for tables or chairs.

If you had an extra three or four feet on one side or more you would have a much more comfortable room - and space for a bar! Posted on 1st June 2002 by Gary Lawrence of Clacton, Essex. The maximum break in snooker is 147 (15 reds, 15 blacks and then the colours). In theory if your opponent fouls (before any balls are potted) resulting in a free ball, you could take the free ball, then a black then proceed with a 147 break and you could make a 155 break. Do you know of any professional games where a break of over 147 has been recorded? Was this televised? Who made it? There has never been a break of more than 147 in a professional match, though Kirk Stevens made a 16 red total clearance in a break of 135 against Alex Higgins during the 1990 World Professional Snooker Championships. It may have been recorded, but I'm unable confirm this at present.

The highest known break is one of 151 made by Wally West in a club final at Hounslow Lucania in 1976. Since the original reply was posted above, the following entry has been added to the Calendar section. October 16th 2004. Jamie Burnett made the highest ever break in the history of professional snooker. In the second qualifying round of the Travis Perkins UK Championship at Prestatyn, his opponent, Leo Fernandez, fouled before any reds had been potted and gave away a "free" ball. Burnett then potted the brown as the "extra" red, brown again, then the 15 reds, 12 blacks, two pinks, a blue and all the colours to clear the table with a break of 148. Sadly this took place before the televised rounds so was not recorded for posterity. Posted on 25th May 2002 by Janine Samler of Dorking. Please can you tell me where/if you can buy chalk spindles like people use in America... these are great! No sweaty/sticky hands and the cue glides easily.

Loads of bars and pool halls in America have them...for description, they are cones of chalk that revolve on a spindle that you brush your hands on before & during play. They are usually about 6/7" tall... wide at the bottom and thin at the top... and should be used EVERYWHERE! It really helps your game! These are very easy to find on Amazon.com and can sometimes be found on ebay but usually have to be sent over from America. Posted on 11th May 2002 by John Wilson of Chorley. 1: If all the spots are occupied, and the brown has to be respotted, where does it go? 2: If the black has to be respotted, and from its spot to the back cushion are a line of balls, where does it go? The brown would be placed as close as possible to its own spot (without touching any ball) in a direct line between the brown spot and the blue spot. The black would be placed as close as possible to its own spot (without touching any ball) in a direct line towards the pink spot.

If there was no space between the centre of the top cushion and the pink spot then the black would be placed on the far side of the pink. This earlier reply might also be of interest. Posted on 4th May 2002 by Graham Hardman of Chatham. I remember reading somewhere that Eddie Charlton once managed to escape from a snooker off 7 cushions. Can you confirm this, and can you demonstrate how he did it? I can find nothing in print to confirm this but he did include a seven cushion cannon in the book of trick shots he published in 1977. It is not a natural angle so the shot must be played with strong right-hand side. If you practice this place a piece of chalk on the side cushion to act as a marker, and move this up and down until you find the correct line of aim. Posted on 27th April 2002 by Graham Cresswell of Chatham. A player starts to take a shot on the blue, not realising that the next ball should be the yellow - one of his suporters utters "no the yellow". What should the referee do in this instance?

There is absolutely nothing a referee can do - except, if the 'offence' is repeated, he can have the spectator removed. Although the chance of this happening more than once in a game is extremely unlikely. This set of circumstances has happened on more than one occasion but usually in the lower echelons of the game where the 'crowd' see nothing wrong in telling their mate that he's going for the wrong ball. (Answer verified by the Sussex Referees' Association) Posted on 7th April 2002 by Derek Middleton of Sussex Inlet, Australia. After a foul the opponent is granted a free ball. There are three reds left on the table, black is nominated as the free ball and after the shot is taken the situation is:- Two of the reds are snookered behind the black and the other red is snookered behind the pink (the black playing no part in this snooker). Is this a foul or is it fair because the free ball plays no part of the snooker on the red behind the pink? This would be a fair stroke. For it to be foul all three reds would need to be snookered by the black.

O'SULLIVAN ON ROBERTSON AND RECORDS — Inside Snooker February 10, 2014 WORLD champion Ronnie O’Sullivan was briefly reported in newspapers last week hailing Neil Robertson’s astonishing century strike rate this season. But the Rocket’s comments in full on both the way the Australian is homing in on the almost mythical target of a hundred hundreds in a single campaign, and also the setting of records in general, can now be revealed by Inside Snooker. Robertson has smashed last season’s record for century breaks out of sight, a mark of 61 set by Judd Trump. In terms of the sheer scale of the margin for the new record, with Robertson on 83 and counting at the Championship League in early February, it looks set to be up there with golf’s Tiger Woods winning the 2000 US Open by 15 shots and the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes. O’Sullivan is one for records as well as titles, standing on 724 career centuries and homing in on Stephen Hendry’s all-time mark of 775.

He ties Hendry with 11 147 maximum breaks, and scored an unprecedented 556 unanswered points against Ricky Walden at January’s Masters. But though the five-time world champion genuinely admires what the ruthless Robertson is doing, O’Sullivan also suspects that the world No1 would happily trade it all for one more success on the game’s biggest stage at the Crucible. And January’s Masters champion is certain his 14 Major wins in the big three tournaments yield satisfaction over and above the thrill of moments such as making the fastest 147 of all time. O’Sullivan said: “I think it is insane, what Neil is doing with the centuries. If you are confident and break-building and scoring well then 100 breaks can come along easily. “I am not demeaning Neil’s achievement at all, but the standard is very high and a lot of players are used to winning frames in one visit. “Players get to 70 and then maybe 70 per cent break down, but Neil is clinical, has made himself clinical and is not missing easy balls so 70s have become 100s all season. “He is a powerful player and a powerful scorer, accurate potter.

He is playing in more tournaments than when Stephen Hendry was at his best, but his strike rate is higher than Hendry’s anyway. “He hasn’t just beaten the record, he has demolished it. It is probably the most phenomenal scoring in the history of the game. He could get 100 centuries, but I’m not too bothered that one escaped me. “Neil, I am certain, would swap 100 100s if he gets there all day long for another world title, without fail. “But it is still a great achievement, a testament to his professionalism and a great talking point for snooker. “The centuries and records surrounding them are nice to make and break, it would be nice for me if I am around long enough to break Hendry’s all-time record, I think I have another 50 to go or so. “That would be a nice milestone, but the way Neil is going even if I do he would probably break it four or five years after anyway. “Records are there to be broken, but overall I am more proud of my titles, my world titles, and the ones at the Masters and the UK. They mean the most to me.

“The maximums, all 11 of them, and the centuries are great but I know they only win you one frame.” O’Sullivan also admits that despite his admiration for Robertson’s destructive firepower on the table this season, he would rather have matched Ding Junhui’s ranking title hat-trick. He added: “Different records will mean different things to people, and I would rather have had Ding’s season where he won three ranking titles on the bounce than Neil’s for the centuries. “I think Ding’s is a greater record to have, and certainly greater than my record of the 556 unanswered points against Ricky Walden, which was only one match.” Cuesport scoring system - ActiveSG Cuesport scoring system image credit: Shutterstock.com Pool In eight-ball pool or solids and stripes, which is the most common version of pool played globally, the game is won when a player successfully manages to pocket the no.8 ball after first potting the other balls he was designated with. For example, if a player is assigned the solids (numbers 1 to 7), he has to pocket all of these balls before he is allowed to pocket the no.8 ball.

If he pockets the no.8 ball before all his other balls are potted, then the opposing player wins the game. Snooker In snooker, there are two groups of balls – the reds and the colours - from which a player can pot to score points. There are 15 red balls worth one point apiece and a player first needs to pocket a red before attempting to pocket one of the colours (yellow – 2 points, green – 3 points, brown 4 points, blue 5 points, pink 6 points and black 7 points). After all 15 red balls are cleared; the colours will have to be potted in sequence (yellow, green, brown, blue, pink, black) to finish the game. The player with the most points wins the game and in tournament play, it is the player with the most number of frames (individual games) - which are decided prior to the contest - who then wins a match. In snooker, players can also gain points as a result of a foul committed by their opponent. For instance, if the player pockets the cue ball, his opponent will receive points ranging from four to seven.

The number of points that the opponent gains is determined by the severity of the foul. Another aspect of scoring in snooker relates to the “break” which is the total number of points (excluding fouls) that a player accumulates during each visit to the table. For example, a player who attains a break of 50 would have amassed 50 points during his turn before he misses a shot or commits a foul. The traditional maximum break in snooker is simply know as a “147” but the highest possible break is a “155 break” or super maximum achieved because one’s opponent leaves a free ball with the black ball being the one that’s potted as a result. English Billiards With two cue balls and only one object ball, scoring in billiards is vastly different to pool and snooker. Known as a “cannon”, a player gains two points if he strikes his cue ball so that it hits (in any order), the red ball and the opponent’s cue ball on the same shot. A player also earns points by executing a “Winning hazard” or potting a ball in snooker parlance.

Using one’s own cue ball to strike another ball, a player earns three points for potting the red ball and two points for entering the opponent’s cue ball into a pocket. The third way to score points is by executing a “Losing hazard” which is done by striking one’s cue ball off another ball, resulting in their own cue ball to enter the pocket. Three points are awarded if the red ball was used and two points if the other cue ball was used or both the red and opponent’s cue ball are hit at the same time. Combinations of the above may be scored from any single shot with the maximum points earned capped at 10 points. This happens when the opponent’s cue ball and red ball are both potted by means of a cannon - with the red ball being struck first - and the player’s own cue ball also ending up in the pocket to make a “losing hazard off the red”. Winning a game of English billiards requires a player to be the first to reach a fixed number points (which is determined before the start of the game) or by having more points than your opponent at the end of a timed game.

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Question: In snooker, what is usually the maximum that can be scored in a single break?
Answer: 147