Mark Allen creates piece of history that not even Ronnie O'Sullivan has managed with incredible 147 break at World Championship

Mark Allen knocked in a sensational maximum 147 break in the Friday morning session at the World Snooker Championship.

Allen was behind by eight frames in his last-16 match against Chris Wakelin but seized the chance to make the 147 in the 13th frame at the Crucible.

The Northern Irishman lost all four frames before the interval and headed directly for the practice table.

In the fifth frame of the day, the former world number one played the perfect frame to rapturous applause at Sheffield's famous theatre.

Wakelin had to stay in his chair as Allen became the 11th different player to complete a 147 break at the Crucible after surviving a horrible kick on the penultimate black that nearly cost him an angle on the yellow.

Allen's second 147 of the season earned him a share of a £45,000 bonus – currently a 100 percent share as the only player with a maximum in the championship – and put his name on a remarkable piece of snooker history.

He is the first and only player to make maximum breaks in all three of the sport's triple crown events, beating even the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan to the achievement.

The world number eight has made maximums in the World Championship, the Masters and the UK Championship. No other player has ever completed the set.

After coming out of the mid-session interval at 10-2 down, Allen pulled the best-of-25 match back to 11-4 to ensure it would move into a Friday evening session.

Ronnie O'Sullivan is the darling of the Crucible but has been beaten to a piece of history (Image: Getty)

But world number 20 Wakelin took the last frame of the morning session after trailing by 17 points and will be a single frame away from victory when the players return to the table on Friday evening.

39-year-old Allen is yet to reach a World Snooker Championship final but has appeared twice in the final of the UK Championship.

He was defeated by O'Sullivan in 2018 but returned four years later to beat Ding Junhui 10-7 in the final at the York Barbican.

It was the second triple crown event win for 'The Pistol', who overcame Kyren Wilson in the final of the 2018 Masters.