The English Open is proving to be an extremely happy hunting ground for Liang Wenbo.
He contests the event in Barnsley this week as defending champion after capturing his maiden ranking event win 12 months ago – and a stunning 147 break has given him reason to celebrate here again this year.
Liang found himself in a spot of bother trailing Tom Ford 3-2 just before he knocked in an excellent maximum break to level the match and set up a deciding frame shoot-out which he won to ensure his safe passage through to the last 32.
This was Liang’s second competitive 147 break after his first which came 9 years ago at the Bahrain Championship.
You could see by his celebration exactly what this meant to him as he potted the final balls to land the £40,000 bonus prize and a place on snooker’s roll of honour.
Liang Wenbo hits a 147 at the English Open đ#HomeNations
Still special?
There have now been 132 professional maximum breaks made in the history of the sport and with this number accelerating at a faster rate than ever before over the past decade, it creates a debate as to whether the 147 is the holy grail achievement it once was.
Way back in 1982 when Steve Davis OBE compiled the first ever perfect break in the Lada Classic it was a milestone moment in the history of the game. After this, it remained a rare feat with only three more made in the next five years. It wasn’t until 1988 that more than one was made in a calendar year.
But as the years went by with the standard of break-building improving and finer clothes helping players to move the white ball around the table more easily, the 147 has become more frequent and with it less of a headline maker.
By 1999, it was achieved 10 times in a single year and a record haul of 11 were made in 2012.
There’s no doubt that an increased number of events has also helped to see more 147s made with 70 being compiled in the previous 10 years.
With stats at this level, it’s hard to suggest that the 147 break retains the level of mystique it once did but for an individual player it remains a big deal, there’s no doubt.
Rather than take this achievement for granted and simply chalk another up on the board without much enthusiasm, why not marvel in the fact that the game is being played to such a high standard that we get to see this great act of snooker mastery more than ever before.
