Mark Williams slams suggestion that the 'pockets are big' amidst maximum break frenzy

At the time of writing, an extraordinary 22 (yes, twenty-two) 147s have been produced during this ongoing 2025/26 World Snooker Tour campaign, and there are still several events to go, including the longest-format event, the World Championship.

China’s Zhang Anda was the latest player to lengthen the list with his feat of green baize perfection during the opening frame of his round of 32 match against Barry Hawkins at the German Masters in Berlin. Hawkins broke off, and with his first visit to the table, Zhang sank 15 reds with blacks and all the colours.

That was Zhang’s second maximum of the season, and his fifth in professional competition - all of those coming since July 2022.

The previous record for the most 147s made in a single top-flight campaign was 15, a benchmark set last season (2024/25). That previous record was equalled and then broken within a matter of days during the 2025 UK Championship qualifying rounds in November.

Aaron Hill, Liam Pullen, Chang Bingyu, Chris Wakelin, Matthew Selt, Wu Yize and Zhao Xintong have all made their maiden top tier 147s this season, while Ronnie O’Sullivan, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Hill, Xiao Guodong and Zhang have already constructed two maximums each this term.

Williams on ‘big’ pockets: “that is a load of nonsense”

Another hot topic of debate amongst snooker players and fans are the playing conditions, specifically how generous or tough the pockets play.

There is an official template from the sport’s governing body when it comes to certain dimensions for the pockets used at professional events, although other factors - such as environmental ones - can make pockets play slightly differently from event to event.

Career Triple Crown winner Neil Robertson - who is on the governing body’s players’ board - has often expressed opinion about conditions, and has been happy that the pockets sizes - bar one event - have been ‘tightened’ up at Chinese competitions this season.

Current world number four Williams has enjoyed a professional career spanning well over three decades, so is very well-placed to comment about changes, and the evolution of snooker.

The 27-time ranking event winner was asked by the World Snooker Tour about his opinion on this season’s mindboggling 147 tally, and the Welshman believes it’s simply a case of the players being so good these days.

Williams said: “The standard from the top to the bottom is unbelievable. Miles higher than it has ever been. The conditions are good as well. People say the pockets are big, but that is a load of nonsense. They aren’t big. These boys are just that good they don’t miss. When they are around the black spot and the reds are open, they just don’t miss. It is good to watch.”

The 50-year-old has compiled three 147s on the professional tour throughout his illustrious career, his first coming at the Crucible Theatre during the 2005 World Championship, a feat that earned him a £161,000 bonus.

Looking back at that achievement in the fabled arena, reigning Xi’an Grand Prix champion Williams said: “I was clearing the colours up and I had no nerves whatsoever. I was calm and relaxed. I thought I would be nervous. I wasn’t. I don’t know why. It maybe helped that I was 9-1 up. I think I will remember that one fondly when I retire.”

Williams has a reputation for not bothering too much about century breaks or maximums during matchplay, although at exhibitions, he is arguably the best in the world at delivering magic moments to order. Over the recent festive period he made one in Tibet, the latest in an incredible string of exhibition 147s he has made within the past couple of years.

“I don’t really go for them as much as other players. When I do exhibitions, I get them all the time. More than any other player. Probably ten times more than any other player in exhibitions. I just don’t really worry about going for them in matches. I worry about winning the frame.”

Earlier this season, during the Xi’an Grand Prix in China, world number one Judd Trump fashioned a 147 and spoke afterwards on how he felt “the standard of the players improved” and thinks this spell of maximum break making is the “new normal.”