Maximum joy but Allen one frame away from defeat

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen compiled an incredible 147 maximum break during his World Championship last-16 match against Chris Wakelin.

Allen was trailing 10-2 at the time after losing all four previous frames in the morning session on Friday.

He went straight to the practice table in the mid-session interval and then produced snooker's moment of perfection in the first frame after the restart.

Allen became only the 11th player to make a 147 at the Crucible. This was the 15th maximum in the main draw stage of the tournament and the first since Mark Selby's clearance in the 2023 final.

It was Allen's second 147 of the season, having made one during his third-round match against Ben Mertens at the British Open, and the fifth of his career.

The achievement earns Allen £45,000 and is the 217th maximum in snooker's history. The cash bonus will be split if another player makes a 147 in the tournament.

Despite the thrill of his 147 break, the 39-year-old still faced a huge battle to keep his hopes of becoming world champion this year alive.

His match with Wakelin is a best-of-25 encounter, so the first to 13 wins. There were still three more frames to play in the middle session and, if necessary, the match would be played to a finish in the evening (from 19:00 BST).

Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, speaking on BBC TV, called Allen's maximum "absolutely phenomenal" and added: "What a performance. Unbelievable. Incredible from Mark Allen.

"He was 10-2 behind and he's not scored a point for three frames, comes out after the interval and he makes a 147."

Coming to the Crucible is always special, but it became even more so for one fan as he pocketed £25,000 thanks to Allen's maximum.

One of the event's sponsors, Midnite Sports and Casino, has been running an initiative where for each session of this year's World Championship, one person in the crowd is selected at random and if a 147 happens, on either table, they win £25,000.

The lucky prize winner was named as Brian Nicholls from Tamworth, a lifelong snooker fan who had never been to the Crucible before and was bought a ticket by his son as a present for his 75th birthday.