Shaun Murphy added to his 147 break haul by compiling the tenth maximum of his career at the World Open in Yushan on Monday.
The Masters champion compiled a hat-trick of century breaks during a routine 5-0 drubbing of Zhou Jinhao in the last 64.
The last of those tons transpired in the fifth and what proved to be the final frame of the contest, with Murphy pairing 15 reds with 15 blacks before sinking the colours.
There is no prize for making a 147 break at the World Open, but the Englishman will pocket £5,000 for the highest break if it isn’t matched.
By taking his career tally of maximums to ten, he becomes only the fourth player in snooker history to reach that target in competitive play.
Ronnie O’Sullivan leads with 15 perfect breaks ahead of John Higgins on 13 and Stephen Hendry on 11.
It’s Murphy’s second 147 break in 2025, with the Magician adding to his previous knock at the Alexandra Palace during the Masters in January.
There have been 12 maximum breaks in total during the 2024/25 snooker season so far, and the overall total has expanded to 214.
Murphy advances to the last 32 of the competition knowing that he soon needs to accumulate ranking points if he wants to avoid the World Championship qualifiers in April.
Currently ranked number eight in the world on the official list, the 2005 world champion has a lot of money to be deducted from his rolling two-year tally through his triumphs at the Players Championship and Tour Championship in 2023.
Murphy is provisionally ranked 20th in the Race to the World Championship standings, with the top 16 gaining automatic seeding in Sheffield.
In the 42 year-old’s favour is his elevated position on the one-year rankings, which has already safeguarded his spot in next week’s World Grand Prix but could also be enough to secure a return to the Players and Tour Championships as well.
Murphy will face Thepchaiya Un-Nooh for a berth in the last 16 of the World Open on Tuesday.
The campaign’s latest ranking event got under way on Sunday, meanwhile, with Mark Selby crashing out of the tournament on the opening day.
The 41 year-old was coming into this week’s action in flying form having already won the Championship League Snooker and Welsh Open titles in February.
But despite compiling a 141 total clearance, Selby was downed by Liu Hongyu with a 5-2 scoreline.
Mark Allen joined Selby in exiting the competition in Monday’s morning session after suffering a 5-4 reverse to David Lilley.
World number one Judd Trump, world champion Kyren Wilson, and home favourite Ding Junhui all won their held-over fixtures from the qualifying round yesterday, though.
The trio, who are among the favourites for glory in the tournament that carries a £175,000 champion’s cheque, are each back in action on Tuesday.
Featured photo credit: WST
