Neil Robertson suggests new criteria for classing maximum breaks amidst record-breaking season

The Australian posted a comment on social media on Wednesday night, weighing in on the discussion amidst what has been an extraordinary, record-breaking season for 147s on the World Snooker Tour.

Earlier in the day, Chinese top 16 stars Xiao Guodong and Wu Yize both completed the feat of snooker perfection whilst playing in Group Six of the Championship League Invitational at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.

Xiao recorded the third 147 of his career - and his second of the 2025/26 campaign - and a few hours later, 22-year-old Wu fashioned his maiden maximum at the same venue. Both achievements were made against opponent Oliver Lines.

These efforts from Xiao and Wu push this season’s 147 count to a mind-boggling 20, and there are still several tournaments to go, including the long-format Tour and World Championships.

The previous record for the most maximums in a single top-flight snooker season has already been smashed - that was 15, set last season (2024/25).

It wasn’t so long ago that a player making a maximum break would be breaking, headline news, but yesterday’s perfect frames have barely gotten a mention.

At the time of writing, neither the Championship League or the World Snooker Tour have posted on their social media platforms or their websites about the achievements of Xiao or Wu.

“The rest belong in their own category”

Career Triple Crown winner Robertson took part in the Championship League earlier this week, but finished sixth in Group Five and was eliminated from the non-ranked competition.

Robertson - who is on the WPBSA Players’ Board and often passionately vocal about playing conditions on the professional circuit - replied to a comment on X in reference to the latest maximums.

X user @TSnooker102 posted: “I'm starting to think that 147s made in the Championship league should not count as official 147s.”

To which Robertson replied: “Fair argument for sure. For me there are televised 147’s in main arenas and then the rest belong in their own category. Just my opinion.”

The Championship League - both the ranking event held in the summer, and the original, invitational version played in the winter - are held behind-closed-doors, and largely played in a league/round-robin format.

As well as the Champion of Champions, the Championship League (both versions) is organised by Matchroom Multisport, with these events played on a Rasson table, instead of the Xing Pai Star tables used for all other events on the professional tour.

A quarter of this season’s unprecedented 147 tally have been made at the Championship League. The count began back in July with Fan Zhengyi fashioning the first maximum break of the season during the CLS ranking event.

Four 147s have now been racked up this month, all of them coming at the CLS invitational event - Chris Wakelin (2nd January) and Matthew Selt (8th January) both producing their debut maximums in professional competition. The entirety of Group Seven and the tournament-concluding Winners’ Group are still to be played, so that number could increase again.

Three 147s were made at both the 2025 and 2024 editions of the Championship League Snooker Invitational.

Twenty-six time ranking event winner Robertson perhaps makes a valid suggestion that 147s made on the professional tour could be classed or ‘graded’ differently.

The skill and thrill of sinking 15 reds with blacks and all the colours is an incredible achievement, regardless of the situation, and should always be celebrated, but circumstances surely dictate that some are more important, memorable, and higher-profile than others.

Robertson is in an elite band of players who have constructed five or more maximum breaks in professional tournaments. He made his first at the 2010 China Open in Beijing. A few weeks after that, he won the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre.

Two of his 147s have been extra-special. His third came in the 2015 UK Championship final - which he went on to win; the first time a maximum had ever been made in a Triple Crown final. This earned 'The Thunder from Down Under' an additional £44,000 bonus.

His latest maximum arrived at the 2022 World Championship on snooker's most famous stage, the Crucible. Robertson pocketed a bonus of £47,500 for this feat.