Xuenou > Featured > Kyren Wilson hits 147 at World Snooker Championships to earn £55k as fans go wild
Kyren Wilson hits 147 at World Snooker Championships to earn £55k as fans go wild
Kyren Wilson hits 147 at World Snooker Championships to earn £55k as fans go wild,Kyren Wilson completed the first 147 break of the 2023 World Snooker Championship on Wednesday, taking out the maximum in his first-round clash against Ryan Day

Kyren Wilson hits 147 at World Snooker Championships to earn £55k as fans go wild

Snooker stud Kyren Wilson clinched the first 147 break of this year's World Championship on Wednesday.

The seventh seed took out 15 reds and 15 blacks in seamless fashion before finishing the job in his first-round clash against Ryan Day. The maximum is only the 13th recorded in Crucible history as Wilson joins a Hall of Fame list in Sheffield.

Wilson's whirlwind frame nets him a bonus to the tune of £40,000, with another £15,000 likely en route for the highest break in the contest. The 31-year-old pumped his arm in exultation at his accomplishment, while the Crucible crowd rose to its feet at the sight of such a rare achievement.

READ MORE: Top snooker stars now fearful of knife attacks after protesters stormed Crucible

He and Day were tied at two frames apiece when 'The Warrior' embarked on a vicious run of scoring. The Kettering native potted pink and left just enough room to manoeuvre the black into the same corner pocket for his finale.

Wilson turned to his admirers with a raised fist before the black had even descended, such was his confidence in the nudge. And some predicted it may only be the beginning of big things in Sheffield as one fan predicted: "Time for him to be crowned world champion."

Do you think Kyren Wilson will end his World Championship drought in 2023? Let us know in the comments section.

Kyren Wilson notched just the 13th 147 break in World Championship history
Kyren Wilson notched just the 13th 147 break in World Championship history (Image: George Wood/Getty Images)

"Kyren Wilson is so damn good," gushed another stunned spectator. "Needs to win a worlds soon." Wilson was a runner-up to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the 2020 World Snooker Championship, where he lost 18-8 in a rather one-sided decider.

He's also ventured as far as the quarter-finals in six of the last seven tournaments, though he bowed out in the second round to Stuart Bingham last year. A return to the latter stages could be on the cards in 2023, though he'd need to overcome 10th seed John Higgins in the second stage to get there.

'The Warrior' pumped his fist after joining World Snooker Championship royalty
'The Warrior' pumped his fist after joining World Snooker Championship royalty (Image: BBC)

Neil Robertson was the last player to record a 147 break at the World Snooker Championship last year, notching the tournament's 12th in a 13-12 defeat to Jack Lisowski. Higgins recorded the 11th two years prior in 2020, a full eight years after Stephen Hendry sunk the 10th against Zhu Ying in 2012.

Cliff Thorburn was the first to manage the feat back in 1983, and eight of the first 12 players to do so at the Crucible have gone on to win their respective matches. Wilson's wonder moment marks just the second time in World Championship history that maximums have been recorded in back-to-back years, with Hendry's 147 in 2009 falling after O'Sullivan and Ali Carter each managed one apiece the previous year.

READ NEXT:

  • Snooker protester Edred glues paintings and opposes having kids on moral grounds

  • Seven wacky stoppages at Snooker Championship – from protesters to boob-bouncing streaker
  • World Snooker Championships chaos as protester jumps on table and throws orange powder

  • Snooker Championships ref hauls protester off table as fans say 'don't mess with him'

  • Crucible crowd erupts as Mark Allen makes light of protester with brilliant comment