Higgins hits history books with maximum 147 break
JOHN HIGGINS etched his name deeper into Crucible folklore after becoming just the seventh player to strike a maximum 147 break at the World Snooker Championship.
Not since the great Stephen Hendry achieved the feat back in 2012 had a player compiled a maximum but four-time world champion Higgins ended the eight-year wait in style, as a brilliant visit against Kurt Maflin secured the 10th 147 of his career.
Cliff Thorburn was the first to accomplish the feat in 1983 while Jimmy White, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Williams, Ali Carter and Hendry followed suit over the next 29 years and it was Higgins who became the latest snooker immortal behind closed doors.
The table looked promising from the very beginning, as the world No.5 expertly bridged over the pack of reds to rack up his first point in the bottom right pocket.
And from there he found that brilliant fluency that’s seen him romp to 30 ranking event titles, potting red, black, red, black in mesmerising fashion to cue anticipation of the unthinkable.
Tom Ford, Stuart Bingham and Maflin himself came close to achieving the feat in their first round matches but it was Higgins who looked the bestplaced to go all the way, with the reds favourably distributed at the bottom end of the table.
A brilliant pot into the middle pocket on the penultimate red paved the way and once Higgins got onto the colours, there was no looking back.
He held his nerve with aplomb to add his name to a glittering roll call of former players, his tenth maximum of his career and his first at the Crucible to further his status as a World Championship great.
But just reaching the quarter-final in Sheffield proved to be a tough task for Higgins, locked at 10-10 with Maflin heading into the final mini-session of the match.
The first man to 13 would take their place in the last eight, with Higgins’ fellow Scot Anthony McGill or Jamie Clarke awaiting in the next round.
The two traded blows throughout the contest, heading into Thursday night’s evening session all square at 8-8 with everything to play for.
Maflin did the early running, taking the first two frames to build on the promising snooker he played earlier in the contest.
But it takes a lot to get the better of Higgins, who needed just one chance to halve the deficit before scrapping his way to the 20th frame of the match to make this contest a fiveframe shootout.
Defending champion Judd Trump is also in trouble in Sheffield, trailing 5-3 after the opening session of his match with Yan Bingtao.
No first-time winner has successfully defended their crown, with Trump looking to overturn the ‘Crucible Curse’ that has struck down many a player.
But after battling past Tom Ford in the first round, he once again wasn’t at his best against Yan.
Trump took the first frame before his Chinese opponent reeled off a break of 133, then pinching the fourth frame on the final black to go into the mid-session interval at two apiece.
Three more Yan frames saw him move 5-2 ahead and the last of the session proved absolutely vital, with Englishman Trump taking it to keep himself in the fight.
In the day’s other contest, two former champions couldn’t be separated in their heavyweight battle, with Mark Williams and Stuart Bingham level at 8-8 heading into the match’s closing stages.