Mark Allen makes the 15th Crucible 147 break during his World Championship loss to Chris Wakelin

By Sporting Life

Snooker

Sat April 26, 2025 · 1M ago

Mark Allen fired in the 15th 147 maximum break in Crucible history during his World Championship clash with Chris Wakelin, but still suffered a 13-6 defeat.

The Northern Irishman was trailing an inspired Wakelin 10-2 in the race to 13 for a place in the quarter-finals, but conjured up some magic out of nowhere to thrill the packed Crucible crowd.

Allen, 39, becomes the 11th different player to make a 147 at this venue, with Ronnie O'Sullivan (3) and Stephen Hendry (3) being the only two who have managed it more than once.

The 39-year-old's fifth career 147 break also sees him become the first ever player to have made a maximum in all three Triple Crown events, having done so at the 2016 UK Championship and 2024 Masters.

Midnite has been giving ticket holders that a chance to win £25k if a maximum is hit at the Halo World Championship (T+Cs apply).
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However, by the end of the session, Wakelin, who beat former world champion Neil Robertson in round one, extended his advantage to 12-4.

Allen came out firing in the evening, winning the opening two frames, but Wakelin held his nerve to progress to his first Crucible quarter-final.

On the other table, Mark Williams leads Hossein Vafaei 9-7.

The morning session was low on quality, but things picked up in the evening with the pair trading three centuries, Vafaei making two of them.

However, it is the Welshman who holds the advantage going into Saturday's final session.

Higgins rallies to draw level

John Higgins produced a superb century to ensure he and Xiao Guodong were all square at 8-8 at the end of the second session of their last-16 tie.

Higgins wasn't at his best throughout, but he pulled off a brilliant long pot to win frame 12 on the final black after a lengthy and nervy exchange.

John Higgins vs. Xiao Guodong

BLACK BALL DRAMA!!!

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— WST (@WeAreWST) April 25, 2025

Still, Higgins couldn't shake off Xiao who continued to hold his own tactically, and it needed a masterful finish from the veteran Scot to set things up perfectly for Saturday morning's concluding session.

Meanwhile, Zhao Xintong carved a 5-3 lead over compatriot Lei Peifan in the first session of their tie.

Zhao took a while to warm to his task, but finished with breaks of 53, 97 and 61 to take early control.