Snooker Shoot Out 2023: Ronnie O'Sullivan v Shaun Murphy – Which magical maximum 147 break was better?
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Published 08/12/2023 at 09:54 GMT
Ronnie O'Sullivan holds the world record for the fastest 147 break in history, but his old rival Shaun Murphy may well have produced the second most memorable maximum of all time in his landmark total clearance under the strain of a shot clock at the Snooker Shoot Out on Thursday. "I’d always thought that a 147 in this event was impossible," said the three-time world champion Mark Williams.
'Phenomenal achievement' - Murphy makes first maximum 147 break at Shoot Out
Ronnie O'Sullivan produced the undisputed greatest 147 break of all time at the 1997 World Championship, but does the snooker GOAT finally have a viable challenger 26 years later?
O'Sullivan raced to his totemic maximum in a world-record, still scarcely believable time of five minutes and eight minutes on Monday 21 April in a 10-6 win over Mick Price in the first round at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
"That's the greatest thing I've seen in any sport," Stephen Hendry told his fellow seven-time world champion in May.
"When you watch it back you think: 'He's not going to do it in that time?' It's unbelievable."
While O'Sullivan – fresh from lifting his record eighth UK Championship with a 10-7 win over Ding Junhui in York on Sunday - has opted out of playing the Shoot Out, fans in Swansea have not been deprived of awe-inspiring levels of skill.
Over a quarter of a century on from O'Sullivan's celebrated knock, his old rival Shaun Murphy lived up to his moniker as 'The Magician' by rolling in the first 147 in Shoot Out history, clocked at a rapid seven minutes and 35 seconds.
But 2005 world champion Murphy was also forced to clear the table under the considerable strain of a shot clock that allows only 15 seconds for the first five minutes of the frame, before being reduced to 10 seconds for the second half of the frame.
He potted several tough balls in his astonishing break, including a fiendish third-last red remaining on the table, before slotting the final black with two minutes and 26 seconds remaining of the frame.
While O'Sullivan's knock was worth a total of £165,000 (including the £18,000 high break prize), £4,583 a shot or £536 a second for the 20th maximum in snooker history, Murphy is in line to earn only £5,000 for the sport's 194th, such has been the regularity of 147s amid rising standards of the modern era.
Yet nobody has managed to produce a maximum break since the Shoot Out was first staged in its modern guise in 2011 - until now. Like O'Sullivan's break, it is a feat that is unlikely to be bettered.
Initially wrongly timed at five minutes and 20 seconds, O'Sullivan's riveting break was officially rounded down and ratified as five minutes and eight seconds by the Guinness Book of Records before 21-year-old Ronnie was officially dubbed 'The Rocket' for the fastest 147 of all time.
Trailing 8-5, Price broke off for the 14th frame before O'Sullivan slots a long red after his opponent caught a safety attempt thin.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2022/04/21/3359590-68672073-2560-1440.jpg)
'The best frame in Crucible history' - White and McManus on O'Sullivan 147 in 1997
It was fitting that Len Ganley – the sport's most celebrated 1980s referee beyond the advent of colour TV – was on hand to fetch the balls, never once breaking sweat while O'Sullivan went into positional autopilot, never once losing control of the white ball.
"Big Len was one of our top referees," O'Sullivan told Eurosport. "I think that is how I got my nickname 'The Rocket' after that break. It was a good moment. I still remember it pretty well."
Three-time world champion Mark Williams described Murphy's outlandish break as achieving the "impossible" against unfortunate Hungarian teenager Bulcsu Revesz, who broke off before witnessing a unique piece of snooker history as a spectator.
/origin-imgresizer.eurosport.com/2023/12/07/3839871-78030353-2560-1440.jpg)
'That was great fun' - Murphy ecstatic after 147 break at Shoot Out
Only 27 centuries have been compiled in 12 years of the Shoot Out.
“I started watching it when he was on about 40, but I’d always thought that a 147 in this event was impossible,” Welsh icon Williams told reporters.
“It was an unbelievable break in this format with all the noise from the crowd. The third last red was one of the best shots you’ll ever see, given that he only had ten seconds.
"It’s got to be up there with the best-ever achievements in snooker.”
Murphy joins Judd Trump on eight career 147 breaks with only O'Sullivan (15), John Higgins (12) and Stephen Hendry (11) and Stuart Bingham (9) ahead of him on the all-time list.
"This is showbusiness and we have to entertain the people who have paid money to watch us," said Murphy, who faces Dominic Dale in the second round on Friday afternoon.
"I am going to enjoy this and celebrate tonight, because 147s are very rare in any format.”
"Absolutely amazing," said Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White, who himself produced the second of 14 Crucible 147s in televised history against Tony Drago at the 1992 World Championship. "You've made history in the Shoot Out. I don't think that will be equalled."
Mark Allen had held the record for the competition's highest break set in 2021 when he compiled a brilliant 142.
"Honestly one of the best things I’ve ever seen in snooker. Simply ridiculous," said the former Masters and UK champion.
- - -
Stream the 2023 Snooker Shoot Out and more top snooker action live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement