It is the one you’re thinking of. No, not that one. That’s the one. While the 5:08 maximum break in 1997 is something truly special and easily the perfect break, the ‘best’ maximum has to be the one that has a bit of drama, as well as requires some creativity and problem solving on the table. Which is why I think many people, Ronnie O’Sullivan included, find themselves coming back to the 2008 World Championship.
The Professor of 147’s, Ronnie O’Sullivan, found himself against Mark Williams in the second round of the 2008 WSC. At this point in time, O’Sullivan was a two-time world champion and had made eight maximum breaks, tied alongside Stephen Hendry. O’Sullivan led Williams for the entirety of the match, but Williams was always on his heels. Although, O’Sullivan started to run away with the match at the end with a century and two 50+ breaks as he led 12-7.
Cuing well and feeling full of confidence, O’Sullivan sunk a long pot to leave himself a slightly tricky cut-back black. Using the reds on the table, he was able to pot the black while keeping himself in his comfort zone – on the high scoring end of the table. O’Sullivan’s cue action was in full effect and if anything, was striking too well as noted by commentator, Willie Thorne. Some of the earlier shots throughout the break were marginally overrun due to how fluently O’Sullivan was cuing.
It normally irks me whenever commentators prematurely narrate how many reds and blacks have been potted during the early stages of a break, but there was an air of inevitability about this circumstance that Dennis Taylor stated following the first black about O’Sullivan’s intentions to make the maximum. It was so apparent that even Willie Thorne had a slight chuckle before Taylor finished his sentence because he knew exactly what he was going to say. And how many times have we seen O’Sullivan close out a match with a 147? Many times.
While the reds were fairly split out to pick off as opposed to being in a tight cluster, work still needed to be done to solve this puzzle. A prime example of O’Sullivan’s exceptional snooker brain was when he came onto the sixth red. As mentioned by Thorne in commentary, instead of potting the obvious red to the left of the table, O’Sullivan elected to pot the red at the bottom of the pack to give himself room to negotiate a better split when cannoning into them. Which he then went on to do. It may not have looked like much, but this was an impressive display of snooker knowledge.
Another example of O’Sullivan’s supreme cuing was evident on the thirteenth red that he potted. It was an exquisite example of how little effort he put into striking the cue ball in order to get a tremendous reaction from the cue ball to screw it back that distance off the cushion for the next black. A terrific snooker shot. And then we all know what came next.
The reason we’re all here. The single shot that everyone comes back to whenever we hear the words ‘World Championship 2008 maximum break’. The red that was glued to the pink which was on everyone’s mind throughout the whole break. Because it had to somehow be dealt with. But no one expected it from this following shot. Virtually straight on the black with little-to-no angle to work with, O’Sullivan forcefully stunned the cue ball (with perhaps a trace of left), to bounce off the cushion in a vertical line to perfectly separate the pink and red.
There was no angle to follow through or screw back to the pink/red and O’Sullivan really had to ‘make’ this shot out of nothing. It was played with a bit of insurance in mind given the last red that was situated but O’Sullivan was cuing so incredibly well and was in the zone that he figured he had to go for it. The last thing that made this shot one for the ages was that if the cue ball had a fuller contact on the red, it would have stuck and the break likely would have been over. But it had the perfect quarter-ball contact. It was such a spectacular shot that it warranted a worthy reaction from the Crucible crowd and commentators.
A visible puff of the cheeks by O’Sullivan showed that the hard work was indeed done. And he now had to remain calm and collected as he pieced together the rest of the maximum break. A maximum break which would have earned him £157,000 – if Ali Carter didn’t happen to make one that same tournament. O’Sullivan himself has gone on to mention how this 147 is one of his favourites due to how well he was playing and dealing with the possibility of being banned for comments made earlier in the season. However, O’Sullivan gave authorities a reason to rethink their decisions with a display that only he can provide.
For me, the 2008 maximum is the ultimate showcase of sublime cuing, break-building, audience participation and a single shot that will remain in history. Every 147 is spectacular in its own right, but none still generate the buzz that this one does regardless of how many times I watch it. Many more maximums will be made as time goes on, but it will take a lot to get fans to forget about the 2008 WSC.
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