Wow. Just wow! Stephen Hendry has just made his ninth career 147 break and his second at the Crucible during the seventh frame of his quarter-final match with Shaun Murphy…
A 147 for anyone is always a brilliant thing to see but I have to say, to see Stephen Hendry make his first 147 since the 2001 Malta Grand Prix and become only the second man to make more than one at the Crucible is even more so for me.
Having gone for so long without one I didn’t really expect to see him make another one in his career but at 40 years old he has proved me wrong and as an aside, is playing very well too, a 90% long pot success rate helping him to a 5-2 lead at the moment.
The maximum itself was fantastic, particularly because having got in, the reds were tightly packed together and he had to play some impressive shots to bring them into play, including a couple of well-worked plants. One thing that can be said is that the pockets are slightly easier this week, but nevertheless it was a top class break.
He now regains parity with Ronnie O’Sullivan with nine maximums each and is in line for quite a hefty pay cheque at the end of the tournament regardless of whether he wins the title or not. Stephen also becomes the oldest player to have made a 147 in a ranking event now and the second oldest overall behind Cliff Thorburn who in 1989 made one against Jimmy White in the Matchroom League.
Will post a full video here once one is available.
EDIT: You can watch there video here at the BBC website if you are in the UK:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/8022799.stm