Thepchaiya finally gets it right, hits 147
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh finally ended his 147 hoodoo by making a maximum break on the world snooker professional tour and earned a possible £40,000 bonus at the Paul Hunter Classic on Saturday.
The Thai star missed the final black for a 147 not once but twice last season, at the UK Championship and the qualifying rounds of the World Championship. Those two errors cost the 31-year-old from Nakhon Nayok a total of £52,500, but he will now bank £40,000 from the rolling prize pot for 147s at rankings events, as long as his break is not equalled over the weekend.
Thepchaiya’s magic moment came in the second frame of his last-32 match against Kurt Maflin in Germany. He potted 15 reds with blacks and cleared the colours to score the first maximum on the tour.
World No.33 Thepchaiya went on to win 4-1 — also making a 120 in the fifth frame — to reach the last 16.
His maximum is the 119th in snooker history and first of the season. Thepchaiya also became the only third Thai player other than James Wattana and Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon to join in the professional tour’s 147 club.
“I feel as if I’m flying,” said Thepchaiya. “The two blacks I missed last year were still in my head. If I had known this one was for £40,000, maybe I would have missed again.
“I was relieved that the black was easy. There was a lot of pressure because I have never made a 147 in a pro tournament before.”
Thepchaiya has two other competitive maximums to his credit.
He first recorded a 147-point clearance against Nigel Bond at a Thailand national ranking circuit event in 2009 in Chanthaburi. The second one came as recently as last month when he repeated the feat at a national event in Ranong.