Michael Holt celebrates China Open 147 jackpot win as rivals miss out on share of prize money

During the qualifying rounds of the revived, £1.2 million ranking event, Englishman Holt compiled a maximum 147 break to put himself in pole position for the £15,000 tournament highest break bonus prize on offer across both the preliminary and televised stages.

Despite a couple of close calls - one being exceptionally close - no-one else matched or bettered Holt’s achievement throughout the competition, meaning he gets to keep the 15k jackpot prize all to himself. Had another 147 been made in the event, the bonus would have been shared equally.

In recent years, with so many maximums having been registered on the World Snooker Tour, there have been multiple occasions of a highest break, or a 147 bonus, being chopped up. At the 2025 Saudi Arabia Masters there was a £50,000 purse was on offer for a 147; Thepchaiya Un-Nooh crafted a maximum early on but trousered only a third of the pot due to Ronnie O’Sullivan memorably making two in his semi-final against Chris Wakelin.

At the World Open in Yushan earlier this year, there was a bizarre situation where Un-Nooh’s 147 in the final - which he went on to win - wasn’t eligible for any high break bonus as O’Sullivan had fashioned a record-breaking 153 in the quarter-finals.

Three decades on since turning professional for the first time, Holt - at the age of 47 years and 308 days - constructed his first 147 break in professional snooker competition on the second day of the new top-flight season.

The feat of green baize perfection came in the third frame of his 2026 China Open second qualifying round match against Mark Joyce at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.

Holt went on to win that match 6-1 before bowing out to eventual runner-up Noppon Saengkham, 6-3, in the penultimate qualifying round.

Following a record-breaking tally of 24 maximums made last season - smashing the previous benchmark of 15 from the term before - the theme of extreme scoring has continued into this campaign.

It’s not even the end of August, but five 147s have already been racked up. Since Holt’s effort, Si Jiahui (Championship League), Chang Bingyu (Shenzhen Open qualifying), Liam Highfield (British Open qualifying) and Xiao Guodong (Shanghai Masters) have also joined the party.

Luckily for Holt, though, no-one else made one in the China Open, however, Xu Si - the day after Holt’s - was one pot away from doing so as he missed final black.

At the main venue in Taiyuan, Shaun Murphy - during his record-breaking unanswered points-scoring run - got up to 113 but couldn’t snick in a very difficult 15th black.

‘Twitchy’ Holt “absolutely buzzing with the bonus”

On his Michael Holt Snooker Coaching Facebook page, the world number 48 posted a light-hearted video celebrating the fact that he doesn’t have to share the £15,000 bonus with another player.

“What a lovely, lovely day it is, or it was a couple of days ago when my best mate Mark Selby won the China Open and didn't make a 147, or Noppon, to be fair, because he is a bit of a 147 monster” said a jubilant Holt.

“I was a bit twitchy, but luckily for me nobody else made a 147 so I get the full bonus, especially lucky because the day after I made the 147...Xu Si, he missed the last black that means we would have had to share it, and I think Shaun Murphy he missed out there.

“So yeah, absolutely buzzing with the bonus, my beautiful wife is very, very happy as you can imagine.”

The £15,000 bonus doesn’t get added to his ranking tally, but it is a very handy financial reward for a player currently outside the top 32.

Holt has enjoyed a very decent start to the new season having qualified for the Wuhan, Shenzhen, British and English Opens. His next engagement on the circuit is at the 2026 Wuhan Open which starts this Sunday.

Having eliminated Leone Crowley, 5-2, in qualifying, Holt receives a bye against Mark Allen who has withdrawn, so he goes straight through to the last 32 where he meets Daniel Wells.