Masters snooker 2024: Mark Allen lights up Alexandra Palace with maximum 147 against Mark Selby

ByAlex Livie

Published 12/01/2024 at 21:20 GMT

Mark Allen lit up Alexandra Palace on Friday evening with a maximum 147 break in his quarter-final clash with Mark Selby. Allen made a poor start to the contest, losing the opening two frames, but hit back in amazing style in the third to join Kirk Stevens, Marco Fu and Ding Junhui on the maximum list. Stream the 2024 Masters live on Eurosport and discovery+.

Allen makes Masters maximum 147 break against Selby

Mark Allen made the fifth maximum 147 break in Masters history in his quarter-final clash with Mark Selby.

Allen made a poor start to the contest and looked out of sorts, but found form in some style in the third.

A brilliant cut-back black got him going, and importantly kept him on the reds.

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He picked off the first 11 reds and blacks with little alarm, but began to run out of position.

Allen bridged over a red to pot another and picked off the final reds to bring the maximum chance down to the colours.

He lost position again from the final black to yellow, but recovered superbly to knock it into the green pocket with the rest.

It was a question of holding his nerve on the final three colours and with the pink off its spot, he came up short of ideal position.

The pink was dispatched but he had to go round the angles to get on the black.

Again, position was not ideal but he steadied himself and played a cut-back black – similar to the one that began the break – to join Kirk Stevens, Marco Fu and Ding Junhui, the latter on two occasions, on the Masters maximum list.

“It was absolutely brilliant,” Jimmy White said in the Eurosport studio. “There were four or five shots he had to play to keep the break going that would win any shot of the tournament.

“He kept trying to get the cue ball the right side, he was bridging over balls. The pink where he went off four cushions and it was a tricky black at the end.”

Alan McManus added: “We should get a bit blase about maximums as they are happening so often. But they are very special every time they happen and you do not tire of seeing them, especially the one tonight as it was very special.”

Ding made his second Masters maximum earlier this week, meaning he and Allen will share the high-break prize, unless more 147s arrive...