Maximum breaks
Ronnie O'Sullivan has made fifteen official maximum breaks in professional competition, [1] the highest number completed by any player. This total only includes maximum breaks that have been ratified by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA); it does not include maximums compiled in exhibition matches, or in events that are not sanctioned by the world governing body.
In addition to the fifteen maximum breaks officially recognised by the WPBSA, other high-profile maximums include a 147 compiled against Joe Swail in the quarter-final of the 2007 Irish Masters. [2] The maximum break prize of a Citroën Coupe, worth €20,000, was withdrawn when the organisers were unable to obtain insurance against a 147 being made. However, this was concealed from the players and O'Sullivan only learned of the withdrawal of the prize after he had made the maximum. [3]
At the 2016 Welsh Open, O'Sullivan was on course for a 147 after potting 14 reds and 13 blacks, but then opted to pot the pink instead of the black, meaning he finished with a 146 break instead. He said this was in protest against what he believed to be the insufficient prize money awarded for the maximum, which in that tournament stood at £10,000 for the 147 in addition to the £2,000 highest break prize. [4] A similar incident had occurred six years earlier in a match at the 2010 World Open (listed as number 10 in the table below). In this case, however, he was eventually persuaded to pot the final black by the referee Jan Verhaas. O'Sullivan has been criticised for such behaviour, which has been labelled unsportsmanlike and disrespectful to snooker fans, as well as to the socio-economically disadvantaged, who might benefit from a charitable donation of the ostensibly insufficient prize money. However, he has defended his behaviour whilst also conceding that in hindsight he would rather have given the money to charity. In an interview, he asserted his right to enhance his own enjoyment of the game, as well as the spectacle for his fans, by engaging in such characterful, mischievous, and showmanlike behaviour.
Completed in 5 minutes and 8 seconds, O'Sullivan's first 147 break, against Mick Price in their second-round tie at the 1997 world championship, set a world record (yet to be broken) for the fastest maximum officially recognised in professional competition. Initially Guinness World Records recorded the time of the break at 5 minutes and 20 seconds. [5] However, an analysis undertaken by Deadspin in 2017 revealed that the time recorded by Guinness World Records was incorrect, as a result of the timer being started too early on the BBC footage. [6] Breaks are not officially timed in snooker and the official rules of snooker do not specify how they should be timed, instead leaving the timing to the discretion of the broadcaster. [7] World Snooker has since suggested that a break starts when the player strikes the cueball for the first time in the break; this would result in a time of 5 minutes and 8 seconds, [7] which is the time now officially recognised by both World Snooker and Guinness World Records. [8] However, this methodology for timing breaks is inconsistent with the one employed in shot clock events where timing for a player's shot begins when the balls have come to rest from the opponent's previous shot, and under this convention the break would have been timed at 5 minutes and 15 seconds. [7]
Additionally, O'Sullivan holds the record for the most 147 breaks to be completed during the final frame of a match. He has made a maximum in a final frame on six occasions, one of these in the deciding frame of his semi-final victory over Mark Selby at the 2007 UK Championship.
Full list
A full list of O'Sullivan's competitive maximum breaks is given below:
| Q | Qualifying round of the tournament |
| F | Final frame of the match |
| D | Deciding frame of the match (also implicitly the final frame of the match) |
| L | Match ended in a loss for O'Sullivan |
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent | Round | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1997 | World Championship |  Mick Price (ENG) | Last 32 | [9] [10] |
| 2 | 1999 | Welsh Open |  James Wattana (THA) | Quarter-final | [1] [11] |
| 3 | 1999 | Grand Prix |  Graeme Dott (SCO) | Last 32 | [1] [12] |
| 4 | 2000 | Scottish Open |  Quinten Hann (AUS) | Last 32 | [1] [13] |
| 5 | 2001 | LG Cup | Drew Henry (SCO) | Last 16 | [1] [14] |
| 6 | 2003 | World Championship |  Marco Fu (HKG) | Last 32L | [1] [15] |
| 7 | 2007 | Northern Ireland Trophy | Ali Carter (ENG) | Last 16 | [1] [16] |
| 8 | 2007 | UK Championship | Mark Selby (ENG) | Semi-finalD | [1] [17] |
| 9 | 2008 | World Championship |  Mark Williams (WAL) | Last 16F | [1] [18] |
| 10 | 2010 | World Open | Mark King (ENG) | Last 64Q,F | [1] [19] |
| 11 | 2011 | Paul Hunter Classic | Adam Duffy (ENG) | Last 32 | [1] [20] |
| 12 | 2014 | Welsh Open |  Ding Junhui (CHN) | FinalF | [21] [22] |
| 13 | 2014 | UK Championship | Matthew Selt (ENG) | Last 16F | [23] [24] |
| 14 | 2018 | China Open | Elliot Slessor (ENG) | Last 64L | [1] [25] |
| 15 | 2018 | English Open | Allan Taylor (ENG) | Last 64F | [26] [27] |
