Maximum maker Judd Trump surprised by 147 rush but believes this is snooker's "new normal"

On the opening day of the televised stages of the £850,000 world ranking event in China, world number one Trump completed the ninth maximum break of his professional career during his 5-2 round one win against Ng On Yee.

Three-time world women's champion On Yee took the opening frame with a run of 74 before Trump levelled with an effort of exactly 100.

The Englishman went on to lead 3-1 at the mid-session interval before he slotted home 15 reds, 15 blacks and all the colours in frame five. On Yee prolonged the tie, but Trump got the job done in the seventh frame.

Just a few hours later in the Far East, Ireland’s Aaron Hill followed suit, constructing a 147 in the second frame of his 5-2 victory over Huang Jiahao.

An astonishing total of 13 maximum 147 breaks have already been made on snooker's top flight this season, and we're still in British summertime. Overall, 230 perfect frames have now officially been completed in professional snooker history.

The record for the most 147s in a single professional term is 15 - set last season - and it appears very likely that that benchmark will not only be broken, but smashed.

This maximum rush began with Fan Zhengyi at the Championship League in July. Since then, Zhang Anda, Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (x2), Ronnie O'Sullivan (x2), Xiao Guodong, Zhou Yuelong, Aaron Hill (x2), Ali Carter, Gary Wilson, and now Trump have also got in on the act.

Zhou's run came during the Xi'an Grand Prix Qualifiers in Leicester a few weeks ago, meaning - as it stands - Zhou, Trump and Hill will chop up the £5,000 tournament highest break bonus three ways.

His first 147 on the pro circuit since the Scottish Open in November 2022, Trump spoke to the World Snooker Tour after setting up a last 64 meeting with Matthew Stevens in Xi'an, and just before Hill’s sequence.

"It's been a while” said Trump. “I think a lot of other people have been making 147s and making it look easy, so I feel like it was about time that I made one and they're always special to make one in China.

"I think the atmosphere is very good out there, good crowd out there, and it's been a couple of years since I last had one so it's nice to tick that one off."

UK Champion Trump is surprised by the flurry of maximums we have seen in recent months, but simply puts it down to an increased standard of play: "I don't feel the pockets are that much bigger or anything was different.

"I feel like the tables have been playing quite tough this season and quite heavy, so a little bit surprising everyone's making them.

"I think just the standard of the players improved and I just think it goes to show really because there's not much difference but everybody seems to want to make maximums now".

Across 2025 as a whole, so far, 22 maximum breaks have been fashioned on the top tier. That's a rate of more than two a month. This amount has obliterated the previous calendar year record of 14 - set last year.

Asked whether this was a golden spell or the new normal for the professional game, 36-year-old Trump decided on the latter.

“I probably think the new normal. I think the players are more relaxed. They don't really care about if they win the frame they’d rather make a maximum.

"I think just maybe the mentality is different. I think they're less inclined just to pick the balls off and win the frame now, they're just from the first ball you're just going for a 147, so I think the more you keep people seeing do it, the more you kind of feel a little bit left out and you're going to go for it yourself."

Having recently changed to a new cue, Trump is aiming for his first title of the season, and of 2025. He is set to play former UK and Masters champion Stevens at the Qujiang Athletic Centre on Wednesday from 07:00BST.

Visit our 2025 Xi’an Grand Prix tournament information centre here for details on the draw, results, prize money, schedule and how to watch.