A snooker referee once had to convince Ronnie O’Sullivan to complete a 147 break. At the 2010 World Open in Glasgow, the Rocket was taking on Mark King.
Early in the frame, when he was on just eight points, Sullivan stopped to ask referee Jan Verhaas what the prize was for a perfect clearance. Amid bizarre scenes, Verhaas didn’t know, so he asked nearby officials to find out, with O’Sullivan taking a minute and a half to play his next shot. After learning there was no 147 bonus prize – just £4,000 for the tournament’s highest break – he told the official he wouldn’t make it. In what proved to be the match-clinching frame, the break continued until he potted the pink and went to shake King’s hand, only for Verhaas to urge him to sink the black to make the fans’ day.
O’Sullivan admitted after the match: « I wasn’t going to pot the black because to make 147 and not really get a nice bonus was a bit disappointing because they are magical moments and they deserve magical bonuses.
« But the ref played a guilt trip on me and said, ‘Come on, do it for your fans.’ And I thought, ‘OK, because I haven’t got long to play anyway, so I might as well go out on a high.’ But I wasn’t going to pot it because four grand, once you’ve paid the taxes… »
Verhaas, now a refereeing assessor with WST after retiring from front-line officiating, told the Framed podcast last year: « Throughout the break, he kept chatting to me, saying, ‘I’m not going to do it.’
« I could sense he was going to leave that black or the pink. I thought, ‘I’ve got to say something.’ Before the match, I was chatting to fans who’d come from Spain to watch Ronnie.
« I said to him, ‘Do it for your fans.’ He said I played with his conscience. It was one of those strange moments but I’m glad I did it. »
There has been more high-break drama at the current World Open in Yushan, China, where the Rocket incredibly made 153 in his quarter-final victory over Ryan Day, who saw an early-frame foul brutally punished.
With a free ball and extra black, a 155 was actually possible at one stage. Nevertheless, 153 is the highest break ever in professional snooker, surpassing Jamie Burnett’s 148 in 2004.
While the highest break prize at the World Open is just £5,000, there was no suggestion this time that the seven-time world champion would stop in his tracks.
The historic frame was the first of the match, which O’Sullivan won 5-0 to book a semi-final showdown against Wu Yize.
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