Check out the full list of World Snooker Championship 147 breaks as well as details on which players have compiled the most Crucible maximums.
World Snooker Championship 147 Breaks
World Snooker Championship 147 Breaks - Full List
- Cliff Thorburn: 1983
- Jimmy White: 1992
- Stephen Hendry: 1995
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: 1997
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: 2003
- Mark Williams: 2005
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: 2008
- Ali Carter: 2008
- Stephen Hendry: 2009
- Stephen Hendry: 2012
- John Higgins: 2020
- Neil Robertson: 2022
- Kyren Wilson: 2023
- Mark Selby: 2023
- Mark Allen: 2025
How many 147 breaks have been made at the World Snooker Championship?
There have been 15 maximum breaks at the World Snooker Championship, with just ten players achieving the feat over the years.
Canada's Cliff Thorburn made history when he fired a 147 at the 1983 edition during his last-16 tie with Terry Griffiths, on the back of becoming only the second non-British entry to capture the coveted title three years earlier, after Australia's Horace Lindrum reigned supreme in 1952.
His maximum came in the fourth frame and was just the second occasion that a player had made an official 147 in a professional competition - Steve Davis being the first in the 1982 Lada Classic.
As Thorburn made his way through clearing the table, play was halted on table two as his friend, and fellow Canadian Bill Werbeniuk, wanted to watch this momentous event unfold - a trait that has since become customary.
The great Jimmy White was the second player to make a 147 when he beat Tony Drago in a last-32 tie in 1992, while Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan went on to seal their place in the history books with perfection on the baize before the turn of the Millennium too.
That maximum for O'Sullivan in 1997 was made even more impressive by the fact that he managed to complete it in just five minutes and eight seconds - a record that stands to this day, and seems unlikely to be bettered on the professional stage.
Mark Williams became the first Welshman to complete a 147 when beating Robert Milkins in 2005, whilst Ali Carter's 2008 maximum helped inspire him to a 13-9 success over Peter Ebdon.
Four-time world champion John Higgins felt contrasting emotions when he sealed his maiden maximum against Kurt Maflin in 2020, only to then be beaten by the Norwegian.
Australia's Neil Robertson, the 2010 Crucible hero, lost to Jack Lisowski in the 2022 round of 16 but did have some consolation as he exited the competition with a maximum under his belt.
Fast forward 12 months and Kyren Wilson added his name to the list with a remarkable display of potting in his opening round affair with qualifier Ryan Day, before Mark Selby produced the first ever maximum in the 2023 world final with a sensational clear-up in his defeat at the hands of Luca Brecel.
Then, in 2025, Mark Allen recorded his own piece of Crucible history, making an Herculean maximum clearance in the 13th frame of his second round showdown with Chris Wakelin, a feat which earned him £40,000.
Players with the most World Snooker Championship 147s
- Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)
- Stephen Hendry (3)
Just two players have managed to fire multiple 147s, with modern-day sporting heroes O'Sullivan and Hendry sitting clear of the field.
The pair have registered three maximum breaks on the World Snooker Championship stage, with 'The Rocket' being the first to reach that number.
His treble spanned over 11 years with his first over a quarter of a century ago, back in 1997.
He replicated that achievement at the Crucible five years later in a defeat against Hong Kong's Marco Fu, before landing another maximum in 2008 - en-route to an impressive last 16 success over Welsh potting machine Mark Williams.
Scotsman Hendry was just the third person to shoot a 147 when he cleared the table in 1995 as he cemented his dominance on the sport at the time.
He won five successive World Snooker Championship titles between 1992 and 1996 and his maiden maximum came when beating White in that memorable 1995 semi-final.
It was 14 years later that he notched his second at the Crucible against Shaun Murphy, before his third arrived in 2012 during a success against Stuart Bingham.
Has there been more than one 147 break at any edition of the World Snooker Championship?
In a further demonstration of how difficult it is for even the world's elite to achieve a 147 on the grandest stage, there has only been two occasions in which we have seen perfection landed more than once during a World Snooker Championship.
Of course, Messrs Wilson and Brecel did just that in 2023, whilst in 2008, O'Sullivan needed just nine minutes and 13 seconds to record a record-breaking ninth competitive maximum break against Williams - 24 hours before Ali Carter followed suit.
O'Sullivan's landmark third maximum of the season completed his set of three at the Crucible - compiling it to round off his 13-7 victory over his long-term adversary in stunning fashion.
The following day, Carter became just the sixth man to make a 147 - his first in a professional competition - as he overcame the battle-hardened Ebdon 13-9 in the quarter-finals.
It, therefore, seemed fitting that O'Sullivan and Carter met in the final with the former going on to win the match 18-8.
