SHAUN MURPHY hit the most “underwhelming” 147 break of his life – following the most overwhelming travel chaos experience.
The Magician celebrated a maximum break in the final frame of his 5-0 victory over China’s Zhou Jinhao in the first round of the World Open.
The Magician makes a 𝗠𝗔𝗫𝗜𝗠𝗨𝗠! ✨
— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 24, 2025
Shaun Murphy makes his 10th career 147 and his second of the year to conclude a whitewash victory against Zhou Jinhao at the #World Open 🤩 pic.twitter.com/xShZ7n3a16
EurosportShaun Murphy hit the ‘most underwhelming’ 147 break of all time[/caption]
AlamyIt was the tenth max break of his career and said he was ‘delighted’ by it[/caption]
It is the tenth perfect break of his career – only Ronnie O’Sullivan (15), John Higgins (13) and Stephen Hendry (11) have made more.
Yet the 214th official maximum in snooker history – and 12th of the season – was not seen by many people in Yushan.
Murphy, in line for the £5,000 high-break prize, said: “I did a show in Ormskirk a couple of weeks ago.
“When I got there, the promoter was keen to tell me that the last player they’d had there made a 147 in the first frame.
“So, I did one there as well! Listen, I don’t know, maybe there’s something in the water but I’m delighted. Absolutely delighted.
“I must say it was an early session, an early start, there weren’t many fans in the arena this morning.
“It’s probably the most underwhelming 147 of all time. But they are all special.
“I’ve made snooker look very difficult at times – when it goes well, I’m really pleased.
“You just get used to patterns. It was very, very similar to the 147 I made in the Shoot Out, where the blue moved off the break.
“I just thought that the black was available and ‘let’s see how far I can get’. So, I was trying to get it from the first shot. I didn’t think I would actually do it. I can’t believe it. I’m blown away.”
Murphy – who fired in a 147 on his run to winning the Masters at Ally Pally in January – also notched in scores of 127 and 119 as Jinhao potted only 53 points across five frames.
His next assignment will be Thailand’s Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the last 32 as he chases the £175,000 top pot.
But the world No8 almost never made it on time after flight problems en route to the Far East.
Murphy explained: “It was amazing. We taxied to the runway at Heathrow. The pilot came over and said: ‘I’m really sorry, we have got a problem, no power in the engines.’
“We were like: ‘Right, that sounds like a problem.’ Of course, there was a three-hour delay. By the time I got to Dubai I’d missed my connection to Shanghai.
“That meant a night in Shanghai. I then got an early bullet train.
“What should have taken a day took four days to get here. A bit of a mission. Seems like it has been worthwhile so far.”
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
1969 – John Spencer
1970 – Ray Reardon
1971 – John Spencer
1972 – Alex Higgins
1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
1977 – John Spencer (2)
1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
1979 – Terry Griffiths
1980 – Cliff Thorburn
1981 – Steve Davis
1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
1983 – Steve Davis (2)
1984 – Steve Davis (3)
1985 – Dennis Taylor
1986 – Joe Johnson
1987 – Steve Davis (4)
1988 – Steve Davis (5)
1989 – Steve Davis (6)
1990 – Stephen Hendry
1991 – John Parrott
1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
1997 – Ken Doherty
1998 – John Higgins
1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
2000 – Mark Williams
2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
2002 – Peter Ebdon
2003 – Mark Williams (2)
2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
2005 – Shaun Murphy
2006 – Graeme Dott
2007 – John Higgins (2)
2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
2009 – John Higgins (3)
2010 – Neil Robertson
2011 – John Higgins (4)
2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
2014 – Mark Selby
2015 – Stuart Bingham
2016 – Mark Selby (2)
2017 – Mark Selby (3)
2018 – Mark Williams (3)
2019 – Judd Trump
2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
2021 – Mark Selby (4)
2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
2023 – Luca Brecel
2024 – Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
2 – Alex Higgins
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