Analysis

The Perfect Frame: Full list of maximum 147 breaks made in professional snooker

Details on every official maximum break made since the first in 1982
Credit: Julian Finney/Getty ImagesCredit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Below is a full list of all the officially recognised maximum 147 breaks made in professional snooker competition. 

Maximums had been compiled in competitive matches and exhibitions many years before, but the first professional 147 completed in a ratified event on templated tables was Steve Davis’ at the 1982 Classic. 

John Spencer hit a 147 at the 1979 Holsten Lager Tournament – a professional event – but due to the pockets being oversized, the effort was not officially recognised. 

Shaun Murphy’s 147 at the 2023 Snooker Shoot Out is the only professional maximum break constructed under shot-clock conditions. 

The number in brackets next to the player’s name indicates what number maximum it was in their career. If there is no number, it was their first 147 in professional play

* indicates the 147 was made in a tournament final 

1) Steve Davis v John Spencer | 1982 Classic 

2) Cliff Thorburn v Terry Griffiths | 1983 World Championship 

3) Kirk Stevens v Jimmy White | 1984 Masters 

4) Willie Thorne v Tommy Murphy | 1987 UK Championship 

5) Tony Meo v Stephen Hendry | 1988 Matchroom League 

6) Alain Robidoux v Jim Meadowcroft | 1989 European Open Qualifiers (break made at the qualifiers held in 1988) 

7) John Rea v Ian Black | 1989 Scottish Professional Championship 

8) Cliff Thorburn (2) v Jimmy White | 1989 Matchroom League 

9) James Wattana v Paul Dawkins | 1991 World Masters 

10) Peter Ebdon v Wayne Martin | 1992 Strachan Open Qualifiers (break made at the qualifiers held in 1991) 

11) James Wattana (2) v Tony Drago | 1992 British Open 

12) Jimmy White v Tony Drago | 1992 World Championship 

13) John Parrott v Tony Meo | 1992 Matchroom League 

14) Stephen Hendry v Willie Thorne | 1992 Matchroom League (second 147 of the event) 

15) Peter Ebdon (2) v Ken Doherty | 1992 UK Championship 

16) David McDonnell v Nic Barrow | 1995 British Open Qualifiers (break made at the qualifiers held in 1994) 

17) Stephen Hendry (2) v Jimmy White | 1995 World Championship 

18) Stephen Hendry (3) v Gary Wilkinson | 1995 UK Championship 

*19) Stephen Hendry (4) v Ronnie O’Sullivan | 1997 Charity Challenge 

20) Ronnie O’Sullivan v Mick Price | 1997 World Championship 

21) James Wattana (3) v Pang Weiguo | 1997 China International 

22) Stephen Hendry (5) v Ken Doherty | 1998 Premier League 

23) Adrian Gunnell v Mario Wehrmann | 1999 Thailand Masters Qualifiers (break made at the qualifiers held in 1998) 

24) Mehmet Husnu v Eddie Barker | 1999 China International Qualifiers (break made at the qualifiers held in 1998) 

25) Jason Prince v Ian Brumby | 1999 British Open Qualifiers 

26) Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) v James Wattana | 1999 Welsh Open 

27) Stuart Bingham v Barry Hawkins | 1999 UK Tour Event 3 

28) Nick Dyson v Adrian Gunnell | 1999 UK Tour Event 4 

29) Graeme Dott v David Roe | 1999 British Open (second 147 of the event) 

*30) Stephen Hendry (6) v Peter Ebdon | 1999 British Open II 

31) Barry Pinches v Joe Johnson | 2000 Welsh Open Qualifiers (break made at the qualifiers held in 1999) 

32) Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) v Graeme Dott | 1999 Grand Prix 

33) Karl Burrows v Adrian Rosa | 1999 B&H Championship 

34) Stephen Hendry (7) v Paul Wykes | 1999 UK Championship 

35) John Higgins v Dennis Taylor | 2000 Nations Cup 

36) John Higgins (2) v Jimmy White | 2000 Irish Masters 

37) Stephen Maguire v Phaitoon Phonbun | 2000 Scottish Open Qualifiers 

38) Ronnie O’Sullivan (4) v Quinten Hann | 2000 Scottish Open (second 147 of the event) 

39) Marco Fu v Ken Doherty | 2000 Scottish Masters 

40) David McLellan v Steve Meakin | 2000 B&H Championship 

41) Nick Dyson (2) v Robert Milkins | 2000 UK Championship Qualifiers 

*42) Stephen Hendry (8) v Mark Williams | 2001 Malta Grand Prix 

43) Ronnie O’Sullivan (5) v Drew Henry | 2001 LG Cup 

44) Shaun Murphy v Adrian Rosa | 2001 B&H Championship 

45) Tony Drago v Stuart Bingham | 2002 B&H Championship 

46) Ronnie O’Sullivan (6) v Marco Fu | 2003 World Championship 

*47) John Higgins (3) v Mark Williams | 2003 LG Cup 

48) John Higgins (4) v Michael Judge | 2003 British Open 

49) John Higgins (5) v Ricky Walden | 2004 Grand Prix 

50) David Gray v Mark Selby | 2004 UK Championship 

51) Mark Williams v Robert Milkins | 2005 World Championship 

52) Stuart Bingham (2) v Marcus Campbell | 2005 Masters Qualifying Event 

53) Robert Milkins v Mark Selby | 2006 World Championship Qualifiers 

54) Jamie Cope v Michael Holt | 2006 Grand Prix 

55) Ding Junhui v Anthony Hamilton | 2007 Masters 

56) Andrew Higginson v Ali Carter | 2007 Welsh Open 

57) Jamie Burnett v Liu Song | 2007 Grand Prix Qualifiers 

58) Tom Ford v Steve Davis | 2007 Grand Prix (second 147 of the event) 

59) Ronnie O’Sullivan (7) v Ali Carter | 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy 

60) Ronnie O’Sullivan (8) v Mark Selby | 2007 UK Championship 

61) Stephen Maguire (2) v Ryan Day | 2008 China Open 

62) Ronnie O’Sullivan (9) v Mark Williams | 2008 World Championship 

63) Ali Carter v Peter Ebdon | 2008 World Championship (second 147 of the event) 

64) Jamie Cope (2) v Mark Williams | 2008 Shanghai Masters  

65) Liang Wenbo v Martin Gould | 2008 Bahrain Championship Qualifiers 

66) Marcus Campbell v Ahmed Basheer Al-Khusaibi | 2008 Bahrain Championship (second 147 of the event) 

67) Ding Junhui (2) v John Higgins | 2008 UK Championship 

68) Stephen Hendry (9) v Shaun Murphy | 2009 World Championship 

69) Mark Selby v Joe Perry | 2009 Jiangsu Classic 

70) Neil Robertson v Peter Ebdon | 2010 China Open 

71) Kurt Maflin v Michael Zielinski | 2010/11 PTC Event 1 (event held in 2010) 

72) Barry Hawkins v James McGouran | 2010/11 PTC Event 3 (event held in 2010) 

73) Ronnie O’Sullivan (10) v Mark King | 2010 World Open 

74) Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon v Barry Hawkins | 2010/11 European PTC Event 3 (event held in 2010) 

75) Mark Williams (2) v Diana Schuler | 2010/11 European PTC Event 3 (event held in 2010 - second 147 of the event) 

76) Rory McLeod v Issara Kachaiwong | 2010/11 European PTC Event 6 (event held in 2010) 

77) Stephen Hendry (10) v Stephen Maguire | 2011 Welsh Open 

78) Ronnie O’Sullivan (11) v Adam Duffy | 2011/12 PTC Event 4 (event held in 2011) 

79) Mike Dunn v Kurt Maflin | 2012 German Masters Qualifiers (break made at the qualifiers held in 2011) 

80) David Gray (2) v Robbie Williams | 2011/12 PTC Event 10 Qualifiers (event held in 2011) 

81) Ricky Walden v Gareth Allen | 2011/12 PTC Event 10 (event held in 2011 – second 147 of the event) 

82) Matthew Stevens v Michael Wasley | 2011/12 PTC Event 12 (break made in early rounds held in 2011) 

83) Ding Junhui (3) v Brandon Winstone | 2011/12 PTC Event 12 (break made in early rounds held in 2011. Second 147 of the event and on same day) 

84) Ding Junhui (4) v James Cahill | 2011/12 PTC Event 11 (event held in 2011) 

85) Jamie Cope (3) v Kurt Maflin | 2011/12 PTC Event 11 (event held in 2011 - second 147 of the event) 

86) Marco Fu (2) v Matthew Selt | 2012 World Open Qualifiers 

87) Robert Milkins (2) v Xiao Guodong | 2012 World Championship Qualifiers 

88) Stephen Hendry (11) v Stuart Bingham | 2012 World Championship (second 147 of the event) 

*89) Stuart Bingham (3) v Ricky Walden | 2012 Wuxi Classic 

90) Ken Doherty v Julian Treiber | 2012/13 European Tour Event 1 (event held in 2012) 

*91) John Higgins (6) v Judd Trump | 2012 Shanghai Masters 

92) Tom Ford (2) v Matthew Stevens | 2012/13 European Tour Event 4 (event held in 2012) 

93) Andy Hicks v Daniel Wells | 2012 UK Championship Qualifiers 

94) Jack Lisowski v Chen Zhe | 2012 UK Championship Qualifiers (second 147 of the event) 

95) John Higgins (7) v Mark Davis | 2012 UK Championship (third 147 of the event) 

96) Kurt Maflin (2) v Stuart Carrington | 2012/13 European Tour Event 5 (event held in 2012) 

97) Ding Junhui (5) v Mark Allen | 2013 PTC Grand Finals 

98) Neil Robertson (2) v Mohamed Khairy | 2013 Wuxi Classic Qualifiers 

99) Judd Trump v Mark Selby | 2013/14 European Tour Event 7 (event held in 2013) 

100) Mark Selby (2) v Ricky Walden | 2013 UK Championship 

101) Dechawat Poomjaeng v Zak Surety | 2014 German Masters Qualifiers (break made in the qualifiers held in 2013) 

102) Gary Wilson v Ricky Walden | 2014 German Masters Qualifiers (break made in qualifiers held in 2013. Second 147 of the event) 

103) Shaun Murphy (2) v Mark Davis | 2014 Championship League 

104) Shaun Murphy (3) v Jamie Jones | 2013/14 European Tour Event 8 (event held in 2014) 

*105) Ronnie O’Sullivan (12) v Ding Junhui | 2014 Welsh Open 

106) Aditya Mehta v Stephen Maguire | 2014/15 European Tour Event 2 (event held in 2014) 

107) Ryan Day v Cao Yupeng | 2014/15 Asian Tour Event 2 (event held in 2014) 

*108) Shaun Murphy (4) v Robert Milkins | 2014/15 European Tour Event 4 (event held in 2014) 

109) Ronnie O’Sullivan (13) v Matthew Selt | 2014 UK Championship 

110) Ben Woollaston v Joe Steele | 2014/15 European Tour Event 5 (event held in 2014) 

111) Barry Hawkins (2) v Stephen Maguire | 2015 Championship League 

112) Marco Fu (3) v Stuart Bingham | 2015 Masters 

113) Judd Trump (2) v Mark Selby | 2015 German Masters 

114) David Gilbert v Xiao Guodong | 2015 Championship League (second 147 of the event) 

*115) Neil Robertson (3) v Liang Wenbo | 2015 UK Championship 

116) Marco Fu (4) v Sam Baird | 2015/16 European Tour Event 5 (event held in 2015) 

117) Ding Junhui (6) v Neil Robertson | 2016 Welsh Open 

118) Fergal O’Brien v Mark Davis | 2016 Championship League 

119) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Kurt Maflin | 2016 Paul Hunter Classic 

120) Stephen Maguire (3) v Xu Yichen | 2016 Shanghai Masters 

121) Shaun Murphy (5) v Allan Taylor | 2016 European Masters Qualifiers 

122) Alfie Burden v Daniel Wells | 2016 English Open 

123) John Higgins (8) v Sam Craigie | 2016 Northern Ireland Open 

124) Mark Allen v Rod Lawler | 2016 UK Championship 

125) Ali Carter (2) v Wang Yuchen | 2017 German Masters (break made in the qualifiers held in 2016) 

126) Ross Muir v Itaro Santos | 2017 German Masters (break made in the qualifiers held in 2016. Second 147 break of the event and made on the same day) 

127) Mark Davis v Neil Robertson | 2017 Championship League 

128) Tom Ford (3) v Peter Ebdon | 2017 German Masters (third 147 of the event) 

129) Mark Davis (2) v John Higgins | 2017 Championship League (second 147 of the event – both were made by Mark Davis) 

130) Judd Trump (3) v Tian Pengfei | 2017 China Open 

131) Gary Wilson (2) v Josh Boileau | 2017 World Championship Qualifiers 

132) Liang Wenbo (2) v Tom Ford | 2017 English Open 

133) Kyren Wilson v Martin Gould | 2017 International Championship 

134) Cao Yupeng v Andrew Higginson | 2017 Scottish Open 

135) Martin Gould v Li Hang | 2018 Championship League 

136) Luca Brecel v John Higgins | 2018 Championship League (second 147 of the event) 

137) Ronnie O’Sullivan (14) v Elliot Slessor | 2018 China Open 

138) Stuart Bingham (4) v Ricky Walden | 2018 China Open (second 147 of the event) 

139) Liang Wenbo (3) v Rod Lawler | 2018 World Championship Qualifiers 

140) Michael Georgiou v Umut Dikme | 2018 Paul Hunter Classic 

141) Jamie Jones v Lee Walker | 2018 Paul Hunter Classic (second 147 of the event) 

142) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh v Soheil Vahedi | 2018 English Open 

143) Ronnie O’Sullivan (15) v Allan Taylor | 2018 English Open (second 147 of the event) 

144) Mark Selby (3) v Neil Robertson | 2018 Champion of Champions 

145) John Higgins (9) v Gerard Greene | 2018 Scottish Open 

146) Judd Trump (4) v Lukas Kleckers | 2019 German Masters Qualifiers (break made in the qualifiers held in 2018) 

147) David Gilbert (2) v Stephen Maguire | 2019 Championship League 

148) Neil Robertson (4) v Jordan Brown | 2019 Welsh Open 

149) Noppon Saengkham v Mark Selby | 2019 Welsh Open (second 147 of the event) 

150) Zhou Yuelong v Lyu Haotian | 2019 Indian Open 

151) Stuart Bingham (5) v Peter Ebdon | 2019 China Open 

152) Tom Ford (4) v Fraser Patrick | 2019 International Championship Qualifiers 

153) Tom Ford (5) v Shaun Murphy | 2019 English Open 

154) Stuart Bingham (6) v Lu Ning | 2019 Northern Ireland Open 

155) Barry Hawkins (3) v Gerard Greene | 2019 UK Championship 

156) Kyren Wilson (2) v Jackson Page | 2020 Welsh Open 

157) John Higgins (10) v Kurt Maflin | 2020 World Championship 

158) Ryan Day (2) v Rod Lawler | 2020 Championship League Ranking Event 

159) John Higgins (11) v Kyren Wilson | 2020 Championship League Ranking Event (second 147 of the event) 

160) Shaun Murphy (6) v Chen Zifan | 2021 German Masters Qualifiers (break made at the qualifiers held in 2020) 

161) Judd Trump (5) v Gao Yang | 2020 Northern Ireland Open 

162) Kyren Wilson (3) v Ashley Hugill | 2020 UK Championship 

163) Stuart Bingham (7) v Zak Surety | 2020 UK Championship (second 147 of the event) 

164) Zhou Yuelong (2) v Peter Lines | 2020 Scottish Open 

165) Stuart Bingham (8) v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh | 2021 Championship League Invitational 

166) Gary Wilson (3) v Liam Highfield | 2021 WST Pro Series 

167) John Higgins (12) v Alexander Ursenbacher | 2021 British Open 

168) Ali Carter (3) v Elliot Slessor | 2021 British Open (second 147 of the event) 

169) Xiao Guodong v Fraser Patrick | 2021 Scottish Open Qualifiers 

170) Mark Allen (3) v Si Jiahui | 2021 Northern Ireland Open 

171) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (3) v Fan Zhengyi | 2022 German Masters Qualifiers (break made at the qualifiers held in 2021) 

172) Gary Wilson (4) v Ian Burns | 2021 UK Championship 

*173) Judd Trump (6) v Matthew Selt | 2022 Turkish Masters 

174) Stuart Bingham (9) v Gerard Greene | 2022 Gibraltar Open 

175) Graeme Dott (2) v Pang Junxu | 2022 World Championship Qualifiers 

176) Neil Robertson (5) v Jack Lisowski | 2022 World Championship (second 147 of the event) 

177) Zhang Anda v Anton Kazakov | 2022 European Masters Qualifiers 

178) Hossein Vafaei v Ng On-Yee | 2022 European Masters Qualifiers (second 147 of the event) 

179) Mark Selby (4) v Jack Lisowski | 2022 British Open 

180) Marco Fu (5) v John Higgins | 2022 Hong Kong Masters 

*181) Judd Trump (7) v Ronnie O’Sullivan | 2022 Champion of Champions 

182) Judd Trump (8) v Mitchell Mann | 2022 Scottish Open 

183) Mark Williams (3) v Neil Robertson | 2022 English Open 

184) Robert Milkins (3) v Chris Wakelin | 2023 German Masters 

185) Shaun Murphy (7) v Daniel Wells | 2023 Welsh Open 

186) Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (4) v Xu Si | 2023 WST Classic 

187) Ryan Day (3) v Mark Selby | 2023 Tour Championship 

188) Kyren Wilson (4) v Ryan Day | 2023 World Championship 

*189) Mark Selby (5) v Luca Brecel | 2023 World Championship (second 147 of the event) 

190) Sean O’Sullivan v Barry Hawkins | 2023 European Masters Qualifiers 

191) Ryan Day (4) v Mink Nutcharut | 2023 International Championship Qualifiers 

*192) Zhang Anda (2) v Tom Ford | 2023 International Championship (second 147 of the event) 

193) Xu Si v Ma Hailong | 2023 UK Championship Qualifiers 

194) Shaun Murphy (8) v Bulcsú Révész | 2023 Snooker Shoot Out 

195) Ding Junhui (7) v Ronnie O’Sullivan | 2024 Masters 

196) Mark Allen (3) v Mark Selby | 2024 Masters (second 147 of the event) 

197) Kyren Wilson (5) v Tom Ford | 2024 Championship League Invitational 

198) John Higgins (13) v Fan Zhengyi | 2024 Championship League Invitational (second 147 of the event) 

199) Gary Wilson (5) v John Higgins | 2024 Welsh Open 

200) Joe O’Connor v Elliot Slessor | 2024 Championship League Invitational (third 147 of the event) 

201) Zak Surety v Ding Junhui | 2024 World Open

202) Noppon Saengkham v Andy Hicks | 2024 World Snooker Championship Qualifiers

Credit: Getty Images/Paul GilhamCredit: Getty Images/Paul Gilham
Credit: Getty Images/Paul Gilham

Who has made the most maximum 147 breaks in snooker? 

Ronnie O’Sullivan has made the most maximum 147 breaks in professional snooker history with 15. 

‘The Rocket’ struck his first 147 in pro competition at the 1997 World Championship, famously compiling perfection in just 5 minutes and 8 seconds – the quickest 147 on the official list. 

John Higgins is not far behind O'Sullivan with 13; Stephen Hendry (11) is the only other player in double figures. 

Players who have made five or more maximum 147 breaks in professional snooker competition (correct as of 01/04/2024): 

  • Ronnie O'Sullivan: 15 

  • John Higgins: 13 

  • Stephen Hendry: 11 

  • Stuart Bingham: 9 

  • Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy: 8 

  • Ding Junhui: 7 

  • Tom Ford, Neil Robertson, Marco Fu, Mark Selby, Kyren Wilson, Gary Wilson: 5 

A 148? A 155? A 167?! 

A break bigger than 147 can be made with the freeball rule. 

Although very rare, a player may get a freeball situation with all 15 red balls still on the table. In theory, they can pot a colour as a ‘freeball red’ then the black, then proceed to pot the 15 reds with blacks and all the colours for a 155 break. 

Due to several factors needing to align for this to happen, though, a 155 has never been achieved in professional snooker history. 

However, during the qualifying rounds for the 2004 UK Championship, Jamie Burnett made a break of 148 when he capitalised on a freeball opportunity before any of the reds were potted. This is the only instance in an official professional snooker competition where a break bigger than 147 has been made. 

At the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker in Saudi Arabia, an additional gold ball – worth 20 points - is in play whilst a ‘maximum’ 147 break is still possible. If the 147 break is produced, the player can then pot the gold ball (located at the start of the frame on the baulk cushion in the centre in line with the brown spot, although it can be dislodged throughout the frame) to complete a 167 break and win a big monetary bonus.  

For the 2025 installment of the World Masters of Snooker, there is set to be a one-million-dollar prize on offer for a 167.

Technically, with the freeball rule, the highest break at the World Masters of Snooker could be 175! 

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