Mark Allen became the first British player to hit a 147 break in Masters history during a nail-biting 6-5 victory over Mark Selby in the quarter-finals.
The Northern Irishman completed the second maximum of the week in spectacular fashion after Ding Junhui achieved perfection against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round and it was only the fifth ever made in the competition following on from Kirk Stevens, Ding (x2) and Marco Fu.
Both Allen and Ding - alongside UK Championship maximum maker Xu Si - are now one more 147 break away from claiming the £147,000 bonus, which is awarded if a player makes two 147s across the three Triple Crown events this season.
There are some magical pots in Mark Allen's 147 break and it ends spectacularly with a lot of hearts in mouths pic.twitter.com/zaVYZAz8tS
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) January 12, 2024
Allen's moment of magic came in the third frame of the match when trailing 2-0 but Selby responded by taking the next two as he opened up a commanding 4-1 lead.
The 2018 Masters champion reeled off the next four frames in succession to edge ahead and although Selby forced a decider, Allen held his nerve with a superb break of 51 to set up a semi-final with Ali Carter on Saturday night.
Masters: Tournament results and remaining schedule
SEMI-FINALS
- (3) Ronnie O'Sullivan v Shaun Murphy (7) (1pm, BBC & Eurosport)
- Ali Carter (11) v Mark Allen (4) (7pm, BBC & Eurosport)
QUARTER-FINALS
- (1) Judd Trump 5-6 Ali Carter (11)
- (5) Mark Selby 5-6 Mark Allen (4)
- (3) Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Barry Hawkins (15)
- (7) Shaun Murphy 6-3 Jack Lisowski (16)
ROUND ONE
- (1) Judd Trump 6-5 Kyren Wilson (9)
- (8) Mark Williams 4-6 Ali Carter (11)
- (5) Mark Selby 6-1 Robert Milkins (14)
- (4) Mark Allen 6-5 John Higgins (10)
- (3) Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 Ding Junhui (12)
- (6) Neil Robertson 3-6 Barry Hawkins (15)
- (7) Shaun Murphy 6-2 Zhang Anda (13)
- (2) Luca Brecel 2-6 Jack Lisowski (16)
