World Snooker Championship: Mark Allen fires maximum 147 break but loses in second roundat Crucible

Mark Allen celebrates after making a 147 maximum break against Chris Wakelin at the World Snooker Championship

Mark Allen fired a maximum 147 break but went on to lose his World Snooker Championship second-round match against Chris Wakelin.

The Northern Irish star clinched the 15th maximum at the Crucible and the first since Mark Selby's clearance in the 2023 final after a nightmare start to the session that saw him slip 10-2 behind against the qualifier.

Allen punched the air after sinking the black and was warmly congratulated by Wakelin.

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The Antrim star made his intentions clear in the first frame after the mid-session interval, targeting a long black and riding his luck on the yellow to wrap up his first 147 at the famous venue.

It was Allen's fifth maximum of his career to scoop the £40,000 bonus and earn a member of the crowd £25,000 in the process.

However, the match still went Wakelin's way overall as the 33-year-old secured a place in his first quarter-final after taking a formidable 12-4 lead into the evening session.

Allen briefly threatened a sensational comeback when he won the first two games of the evening - including a run at an extraordinary second 147 of the match after potting 11 reds and 10 blacks before a miss on the latter.

But Wakelin eventually won an elongated 19th frame to clinch the victory and seal a place in the last eight, where he will play the winner of the all-Chinese tie between Zhao Xintong and Lei Peifan.

Earlier in the match, Wakelin potted a yellow to the middle in the 12th frame that seven-time champion Stephen Hendry, commentating on the BBC, called "one of the best shots I've ever seen".

Co-commentator Steve Davis hailed an "astonishing performance" by Wakelin, adding: "There have been some fantastic shots played over the years at the Crucible, but that's up there in the top 10 for me."

What else happened on Friday?

John Higgins and Xiao Guodong remain locked together at 8-8 at the end of the second session of their second round match that concludes on Saturday.

Four-time champion Higgins looked set to start pulling away from his opponent after getting two snookers he required to force a re-spotted black when he led 7-6.

But after appearing to have done enough to clinch the frame with a fine cut, Higgins went in-off to hand the frame to Xiao and the last two of a fascinating and hard-fought session were shared.

Three-times world champion Mark Williams will take a 9-7 lead into the final session of his clash with Hossein Vafaei.

After the pair had resumed at 4-4, the Welshman raced into a 7-4 lead, opening up with a break of 122, although Vafaei reduced the deficit to 7-5 at the interval with a visit of 115 and then drew to within one as he edged a scrappy 13th.

However, breaks of 61 and 50 restored Williams' two-frame advantage and he edged a tight safety battle to extend it to 9-6 - only for the Iranian to give himself hope with a clearance of 132, including a doubled final black.

Zhao Xintong, meanwhile, holds a 5-3 advantage over compatriot Lei Peifan with the winner to play Wakelin.

The history of World Championship maximum breaks

Jackson Page made two 147s in the same match during qualifying

Jackson Page became the first player to make two 147s in the same match, bagging the £147,000 Triple Crown bonus during qualifying.

The Welshman produced the perfect frame twice in his 10-2 win over Allan Taylor in Sheffield.

Ronnie O'Sullivan famously made the fastest 147 break in five minutes and eight seconds in the first round of the 1997 World Championship.

'The Rocket' won £147,000 in prize money for the maximum, averaging 8.8 seconds per shot.

CRUCIBLE MAXIMUMS

Mark Selby was the last player to make a 147 before Allen's maximum on Friday

• Cliff Thorburn: 1983
• Jimmy White: 1992
• Stephen Hendry: 1995
• Ronnie O'Sullivan: 1997
• Ronnie O'Sullivan: 2003
• Mark Williams: 2005
• Ronnie O'Sullivan: 2008
• Ali Carter: 2008
• Stephen Hendry: 2009
• Stephen Hendry: 2012
• John Higgins: 2020
• Neil Robertson: 2022
• Kyren Wilson: 2023
• Mark Selby: 2023
• Mark Allen: 2025