Jamie Cope recorded the 54th maximum break in snooker history and only the fourth in Scotland in his match last night against Michael Holt.
The match was on an outside table but TV cameras managed to get there in time to watch the last black go in.
He said: “This has got to be the best moment of my career so far, it felt so good to see that black go in.
“I decided to go for it from the start. When I was on 64 there was a red in baulk, I came round the table and dropped on the black. Apart from that I was never out of position.
“I held myself together really well. I had a good chance in China but missed the last red on 112. Tonight I didn’t feel like missing.
“I try to make maximums a lot in practice so that helps. Now I have to have a think about what to spend the money on.”
Cope is a prodigiously talented break-builder with over 100 maximums to his name in practice. He became the first player to record a 155 – snooker’s highest possible break – in a witnessed practice match last year.
He was on for his first pro 147 in last season’s China Open but broke down on 112.
Maximums may seem ten-a-penny due to their frequency these days. Indeed, there were only eight recorded in the 1980s but 26 in the 1990s. So far in this decade there have been 20.
However, it is still a significant achievement and Cope’s £24,000 – providing nobody equals his feat – is well deserved.
In 2004, Jamie Burnett recorded the first professional 148. How long will it be before a player makes more than 147 in a TV match?
5 comments:
Just an appreciative thanks to you Dave for providing these updates and your regular blogs.
I will link to your blog from our website truelevel.net and encourage as many as I can to visit.
Many thanks, Bill
Dave,
As soon as Cope had hit the magical figure I had to find out how much he got paid for it?
Didn't Burnett in the UK Championship get somewhere in the region of £3,000 because it was in the first week of two and, thus, it was the qualifiers. Did someone then go on to make it and get a much bigger payout...?
I remember Stephen Maguire hitting a 147 in Scotland in the International Open.
Thanks, Joe
Jamie Burnett didn't get a penny in fact because there was no pre-televised high break prize.
World Snooker later offered him - get this - train tickets to York to spend a day at the UK Championship: all this for recording the highest ever break in tournament snooker history.
Oddly enough he declined.
Dave,
I cannot believe that - I've never heard something so ridiculous!
And I thought the FA were bad.
They probably offered him tickets to watch the match featuring the player that beat him!
That is the best story I've heard in a while.
Thanks for the laugh, Joe
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