Ronnie O'Sullivan has scored the highest-ever tournament break of 153 at the World Open - and there is only recorded evidence of one higher break.
O'Sullivan potted a free ball and the black to score eight points during his World Open quarter-final against Ryan Day on Friday morning.
He then hit a 145 break to total 153 and record the highest-ever break in a sanctioned World Snooker tournament.
It beats the previous record of 148, which was set by Jamie Burnett during qualifying for the 2004 UK Championship.
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The highest possible snooker break is 155, scored if a player pots a red and a black from a free ball situation, before following that up with a maximum 147.
O'Sullivan potted 14 reds and 13 blacks on his break, but had to move on to the pink given the black ended up on the bottom cushion.
Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh is the only player in the history of snooker to compile a 'super maximum' 155 break on camera, albeit in the much less-pressurised scenario of a practice frame behind-closed-doors.
Un-Nooh, who is nicknamed 'F1' due to how quickly he plays his shots, compiled the break at a local snooker club back in 2021.
He was playing a practice match against Iran's Hossein Vafaei at the time, with footage subsequently uploaded to YouTube.
Although the footage isn't of the highest quality - it appears to have been taken from the club's CCTV cameras - it clearly shows Un-Nooh play a number of impressive shots on his way to reaching the colours.
After potting the black into the bottom right corner, he pumps his fist repeatedly in celebration before being congratulated by Vafaei.
Following all of that, the pair then quickly get on with the next frame of practice.
The Thai star won the 2019 Snooker Shoot-Out and was a top 16 player as recently as 2020, though has slipped down the rankings in recent seasons to world number 39.
His best performance so far this season saw him reach the fifth round of the Saudi Arabian Masters, a tournament during which he also hit a 147 maximum break.
That feat was matched by O'Sullivan, who hit a maximum in two separate frames during his semi-final win over Chris Wakelin.
Topics: Snooker
Ryan Smart