Sporting Life
Ronnie O'Sullivan has hit 15 of the 147 breaks ever hit
Ronnie O'Sullivan has hit 15 of the 147 breaks ever hit

How many 147 breaks in snooker have been made and who made them?

By Chris Hammer
Snooker
Tue November 05, 2024 · 2w ago

A look at the total number of 147 breaks ever scored in snooker history, who made them and videos of the best ones.

There have been 207 maximum breaks made in professional tournament snooker, with Steve Davis managing the first way back in 1982 and Ronnie O'Sullivan scoring the most with 15.

There were also two at this year's World Championship, with Mark Selby becoming the first player to manage it in a Crucible final on the 40th anniversary of Cliff Thorburn's historic effort.

O'Sullivan's maiden effort at the 1997 World Championship - in just five minutes 20 seconds - was undoubtedly the greatest of all time and you wonder if anyone will ever do it quicker.

The lesser known David Gilbert hit the 147th maximum in the unfitting surroundings of a non televised Championship League event in January 2019 but if nothing else, it makes for a good pub quiz question.

Below we list all the 147 breaks in chronological order, the most prolific maximum scorers and a breakdown of how many have been hit year-by-year, while we've also picked out some of our favourites - in no particular order - for you to watch further down.

WATCH: RANKING SNOOKER'S WORLD CHAMPIONS

RANKING THE BEST SNOOKER PLAYERS OF ALL TIME!

Snooker's official 147 breaks in history

  1. Steve Davis - 1982 Lada Classic
  2. Cliff Thorburn - 1983 World Championship
  3. Kirk Stevens - 1984 Masters
  4. Willie Thorne - 1987 UK Championship
  5. Tony Meo - 1988 Matchroom League
  6. Alain Robidoux - 1988 European Open
  7. John Rea - 1989 Scottish Championship
  8. Cliff Thorburn - 1989 Matchroom League
  9. James Wattana - 1991 World Masters
  10. Peter Ebdon - 1991 Strachan Professional
  11. James Wattana - 1992 British Open
  12. Jimmy White - 1992 World Championship
  13. John Parrott - 1992 Matchroom League
  14. Stephen Hendry - 1992 Matchroom League
  15. Peter Ebdon - 1992 UK Championship
  16. David McDonnell - 1994 British Open
  17. Stephen Hendry - 1995 World Championship
  18. Stephen Hendry - 1995 UK Championship
  19. Stephen Hendry - 1997 Charity Challenge
  20. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 1997 World Championship
  21. James Wattana - 1997 China International Challenge
  22. Stephen Hendry - 1998 Premier League
  23. Adrian Gunnell - 1998 Thailand Masters Qualifiers
  24. Mehmet Husnu - 1998 China International Qualifiers
  25. Jason Prince - 1999 British Open Qualifiers
  26. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 1999 Welsh Open
  27. Stuart Bingham - 1999 UK Tour
  28. Nick Dyson - 1999 UK Tour
  29. Graeme Dott - 1999 British Open
  30. Stephen Hendry - 1999 British Open
  31. Barry Pinches - 1999 Welsh Open
  32. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 1999 Grand Prix
  33. Karl Burrows - 1999 B&H Championship
  34. Stephen Hendry - 1999 UK Championship
  35. John Higgins - 2000 Nations Cup
  36. John Higgins - 2000 Irish Masters
  37. Stephen Maguire - 2000 Scottish Open
  38. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2000 Scottish Open
  39. Marco Fu - 2000 Scottish Masters
  40. David McLellan - 2000 B&H Championship
  41. Nick Dyson - 2000 UK Championship
  42. Stephen Hendry - 2001 Malta Grand Prix
  43. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2001 LG Cup
  44. Shaun Murphy - 2001 B&H Championship
  45. Tony Drago - 2002 B&H Championship
  46. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2003 World Championship
  47. John Higgins - 2003 LG Cup
  48. John Higgins - 2003 British Open
  49. John Higgins - 2004 Grand Prix
  50. David Gray - 2004 UK Championship
  51. Mark Williams - 2005 World Championship
  52. Stuart Bingham - 2005 Masters Qualifying
  53. Robert Milkins -2006 World Championship Qualifying
  54. Jamie Cope - 2006 Grand Prix
  55. Ding Junhui - 2007 Masters
  56. Andrew Higginson - 2007 Welsh Open
  57. Jamie Burnett - 2007 Grand Prix
  58. Tom Ford - 2007 Grand Prix
  59. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2007 Northern Ireland Trophy
  60. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2007 UK Championship
  61. Stephen Maguire - 2008 China Open
  62. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2008 World Championship
  63. Ali Carter - 2008 World Championship
  64. Jamie Cope - 2008 Shanghai Masters
  65. Liang Wenbo - 2008 Bahrain Championship Qualifying
  66. Marcus Campbell - 2008 Bahrain Championship
  67. Ding Junhui - 2008 UK Championship
  68. Stephen Hendry - 2009 World Championship
  69. Mark Selby - 2009 Jiangsu Classic
  70. Neil Robertson - 2010 China Open
  71. Kurt Maflin - 2010 Players Tour Championship event one
  72. Barry Hawkins - 2010 Players Tour Championship event three
  73. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2010 World Open
  74. Thanawat Thirapongpaiboon - 2010 Rüsselsheim Open
  75. Mark Williams - 2010 Rüsselsheim Open
  76. Rory McLeod - 2010 Prague Open
  77. Stephen Hendry - 2011 Welsh Open
  78. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
  79. Mike Dunn - 2011 German Masters
  80. David Gray - 2011 Players Tour Championship event ten
  81. Ricky Walden - 2011 Players Tour Championship event ten
  82. Matthew Stevens - 2011 Players Tour Championship event 12
  83. Ding Junhui - 2011 Players Tour Championship event 12
  84. Ding Junhui - 2011 Players Tour Championship event 11
  85. Jamie Cope - 2011 Players Tour Championship event 11
  86. Marco Fu - 2012 Haikou World Open Qualifiers
  87. Robert Milkins - 2012 World Championship Qualifiers
  88. Stephen Hendry - 2012 World Championship
  89. Stuart Bingham - 2012 Wuxi Classic
  90. Ken Doherty - 2012 Paul Hunter Classic
  91. John Higgins - 2012 Shanghai Masters
  92. Tom Ford - 2012 Bulgarian Open
  93. Andy Hicks - 2012 UK Championship Qualifiers
  94. Jack Lisowski - 2012 UK Championship Qualifiers
  95. John Higgins - 2012 UK Championship
  96. Kurt Maflin - 2012 Ravenscraig Open
  97. Ding Junhui - 2013 Players Championship
  98. Neil Robertson 2013 Wuxi Classic Qualifiers
  99. Judd Trump - 2013 Antwerp Open
  100. Mark Selby - 2013 UK Championship
  101. Dechawat Poomjaeng - 2013 German Masters Qualifying
  102. Gary Wilson - 2013 German Masters Qualifying
  103. Shaun Murphy - 2014 Championship League
  104. Shaun Murphy - 2014 Gdynia Open
  105. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2014 Welsh Open
  106. Aditya Mehta - 2014 Paul Hunter Classic
  107. Ryan Day - 2014 Haining Open
  108. Shaun Murphy - 2014 Ruhr Open
  109. Ronnie O'Sullivan 2014 UK Championship
  110. Ben Woollaston - 2014 Lisbon Open
  111. Barry Hawkins - 2015 Championship League
  112. Marco Fu - 2015 Masters
  113. Judd Trump - 2015 German Masters
  114. David Gilbert - 2015 Championship League
  115. Neil Robertson - 2015 UK Championship
  116. Marco Fu - 2015 Gibraltar Open
  117. Ding Junhui - 2016 Welsh Open
  118. Fergal O'Brien - 2016 Championship League
  119. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
  120. Stephen Maguire - 2016 Shanghai Masters
  121. Shaun Murphy - 2016 European Masters Qualifying
  122. Alfie Burden - 2016 English Open
  123. John Higgins - 2016 Northern Ireland Open
  124. Mark Allen - 2016 UK Championship
  125. Ali Carter - 2017 German Masters qualifiers (December)
  126. Ross Muir - 2017 German Masters qualifiers (December)
  127. Mark Davis - 2017 Championship League
  128. Tom Ford - 2017 German Masters
  129. Mark Davis - 2017 Championship League
  130. Judd Trump - 2017 China Open
  131. Gary Wilson - 2017 World Championship qualifiers
  132. Liang Wenbo - 2017 English Open
  133. Kyren Wilson - 2017 International Championship
  134. Cao Yupeng - 2017 Scottish Open
  135. Martin Gould - 2018 Championship League
  136. Luca Brecel - 2018 Championship League
  137. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2018 China Open
  138. Stuart Bingham - 2018 China Open
  139. Liang Wenbo - 2018 World Championship Qualifiers
  140. Michael Georgiou - 2018 Paul Hunter Classic
  141. Jamie Jones - 2018 Paul Hunter Classic
  142. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - 2018 English Open
  143. Ronnie O'Sullivan - 2018 English Open
  144. Mark Selby - 2018 Champion of Champions
  145. John Higgins - 2018 Scottish Open
  146. Judd Trump - 2018 German Masters qualifiers
  147. David Gilbert - 2019 Championship League
  148. Neil Robertson - 2019 Welsh Open
  149. Noppon Saengkham - 2019 Welsh Open
  150. Zhou Yuelong - 2019 Indian Open
  151. Stuart Bingham - 2019 China Open
  152. Tom Ford - 2019 International Championship
  153. Tom Ford - 2019 English Open
  154. Stuart Bingham - 2019 Northern Ireland Open
  155. Barry Hawkins - 2019 UK Championship
  156. Kyren Wilson - 2020 Welsh Open
  157. John Higgins - 2020 World Championship
  158. Ryan Day - 2020 Championship League
  159. John Higgins - 2020 Championship League
  160. Shaun Murphy - 2020 German Masters Qualifying
  161. Judd Trump - 2020 Northern Ireland Open
  162. Kyren Wilson - 2020 UK Championship
  163. Stuart Bingham - 2020 UK Championship
  164. Zhou Yuelong - 2020 Scottish Open
  165. Stuart Bingham - 2021 Championship League
  166. Gary Wilson - 2021 WST Pro Series
  167. John Higgins - 2021 British Open
  168. Ali Carter - 2021 British Open
  169. Xiao Guodong - 2021 Scottish Open
  170. Mark Allen - 2021 Northern Ireland Open
  171. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - 2021 German Masters
  172. Gary Wilson - 2021 UK Championship
  173. Judd Trump - 2022 Turkish Masters
  174. Stuart Bingham - 2022 Gibraltar Open
  175. Graeme Dott - 2022 World Championship qualifying
  176. Neil Robertson - 2022 World Championship
  177. Zhang Anda - 2022 European Masters qualifying
  178. Hossein Vafaei - 2022 European Masters qualifying
  179. Mark Selby - 2022 British Open
  180. Marco Fu - 2022 Hong Kong Masters
  181. Judd Trump - 2022 Champion of Champions
  182. Judd Trump - 2022 Scottish Open
  183. Mark Williams - 2022 English Open
  184. Robert Milkins - 2023 German Masters
  185. Shaun Murphy - 2023 Welsh Open
  186. Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - 2023 WST Classic
  187. Ryan Day - 2023 Tour Championship
  188. Kyren Wilson - 2023 World Championship
  189. Mark Selby - 2023 World Championship
  190. Sean O'Sullivan - 2023 European Masters qualifying
  191. Ryan Day - 2023 International Championship qualifying
  192. Zhang Anda - 2023 International Championship
  193. Xu Si - 2023 UK Championship qualifying
  194. Shaun Murphy - 2023 Snooker Shoot Out
  195. Ding Junhui, 2024 Masters
  196. Mark Allen, 2024 Masters
  197. Kyren Wilson, 2024 Championship League
  198. John Higgins, 2024 Championship League
  199. Gary Wilson, 2024 Welsh Open
  200. Joe O'Connor, 2024 Championship League
  201. Zak Surety, 2024 World Open
  202. Noppon Saengkham, 2024 World Championship qualifying
  203. Noppon Saengkham, 2024 Saudi Arabia Masters
  204. Fan Zhengyi, 2024 English Open
  205. Mark Allen, 2024 British Open
  206. Si Jiahui, 2024 Wuhan Open
  207. Xu Si - 2024 International Championship

WATCH: WHERE ARE THE NEXT SNOOKER STARS COMING FROM?

Does snooker need a Luke Littler to grow the sport?

Players who have made the most 147s

Players who have scored more than one

  • Ronnie O'Sullivan - 15
  • John Higgins - 13
  • Stephen Hendry - 11
  • Stuart Bingham - 9
  • Judd Trump - 8
  • Shaun Murphy - 8
  • Ding Junhui - 7
  • Mark Selby - 5
  • Neil Robertson - 5
  • Tom Ford - 5
  • Marco Fu - 5
  • Kyren Wilson - 5
  • Gary Wilson - 5
  • Mark Allen - 4
  • Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - 4
  • Ryan Day - 4
  • Mark Williams - 3
  • Ali Carter - 3
  • Barry Hawkins - 3
  • James Wattana - 3
  • Jamie Cope - 3
  • Stephen Maguire - 3
  • Liang Wenbo - 3
  • Robert Milkins - 3
  • Ryan Day - 3
  • Noppon Saengkham - 2
  • Cliff Thorburn - 2
  • Peter Ebdon - 2
  • Nick Dyson - 2
  • David Gray - 2
  • Kurt Maflin - 2
  • Mark Davis - 2
  • David Gilbert - 2
  • Zhou Yuelong - 2
  • Graeme Dott - 2
  • Xu Si - 2

WATCH: SHOULD THE WORLDS STAY OR LEAVE THE CRUCIBLE?

SHOULD SNOOKER LEAVE THE CRUCIBLE?

Watch: Crucible 147 breaks

Click on the image below to watch all of the World Championship 147 breaks

Official 147 occurrence year by year:

  • 1982: 1
  • 1983: 1
  • 1984: 1
  • 1987: 1
  • 1988: 2
  • 1989: 2
  • 1991: 2
  • 1992: 5
  • 1994: 1
  • 1995: 2
  • 1997: 3
  • 1998: 3
  • 1999: 10
  • 2000: 7
  • 2001: 3
  • 2002: 1
  • 2003: 3
  • 2004: 2
  • 2005: 2
  • 2006: 2
  • 2007: 6
  • 2008: 7
  • 2009: 2
  • 2010: 7
  • 2011: 9
  • 2012: 11
  • 2013: 6
  • 2014: 8
  • 2015: 6
  • 2016: 10
  • 2017: 8
  • 2018: 12
  • 2019: 9
  • 2020: 9
  • 2021: 8
  • 2022: 11
  • 2023: 11
  • 2024: 13

TOTAL (so far): 207

10 of the greatest 147 breaks

The Fastest 147 | Ronnie O'Sullivan | 1997 World Championship

When Ronnie O’Sullivan Called A 147 On The First Black! 🤯

Marco Fu's brilliant 147 break during the Hong Kong Masters against Higgins | Eurosport

DECIDER O'Sullivan vs Hendry 1997 Victoria Charity Challenge

"The Best There's Ever Been!" | O'Sullivan Hits 147 To Win 2014 Welsh Open Final | Eurosport Snooker

Ronnie O'Sullivan 147 In Decider Against Mark Selby! [2007, SF]

The First 147 | Steve DAVIS vs John Spencer | 1982 Lada Classic

Jimmy White v Kirk Stevens 1984 Masters Semi-final (Stevens 147 and final frame)

FIRST EVER SHOOT OUT 147 from Shaun Murphy! 🔥 | 2023 Snooker Shoot Out 🎱

Related snooker links