Ronnie O'Sullivan earned himself £20,000 in just over six minutes today when he rattled in a quick-fire maximum 147 break during his LG Cup clash with Scotland's Drew Henry. The world champion highlighted his 5-1 victory over Henry with a maximum in the third frame as he became the first player into the quarter-finals. The Englishman is now the favourite to pocket the £7,500 high-break award as well and his maximum break, which took six minutes and 36 seconds exactly to execute, making it the second quickest 147 on record.
However, O'Sullivan claimed afterwards that his shout of joy when the final black dropped was not because of the money he had just earned but merely because of what he had just accomplished. "Money's not important to me," he insisted. "I don't play the game for the money. I play it for the buzz and the enjoyment and that kind of thing really gives you a buzz."
"It's got to be one of the hardest I've made. I was nervous when I made my first 147 and I was nervous out there today. It's a great achievement, like a nine-darter, and of course you're going to get tense," he explained. Only O'Sullivan's first of his five maximums in pro-competition was faster than today's effort - it took only five minutes and 20 seconds - and O'Sullivan in fact has made the four fastest 147s in the professional game.
Although this tie will be firmly remembered for its third frame, O'Sullivan was in control from the outset. Breaks of 75 and 78 saw O'Sullivan cruise through the opening two frames, his 147 followed in the third and he stole the fourth on the black with a 38 clearance. Henry avoided a whitewash with victory in the fifth frame but it just delayed the inevitable as O'Sullivan completed his win in the sixth. His next opponent will be either Paul Hunter or Peter Ebdon.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
