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Ronnie O’Sullivan fires dig at snooker chiefs after Zhang Anda hits ‘perfect’ 147 at UK Championship
Rocket rejected cash prize deemed too cheap with purposeful shot
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN fired a dig at snooker chiefs after Zhang Anda hit a “perfect” 147 at the UK Championship.
China’s Potting Panda secured the third maximum break of his career – and the sixth of this snooker season – in frame four of his UK Championship Last 32 with compatriot Lei Peifan.
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Zhang – who has changed his nickname from Mighty Mouse to the Snooker Panda – showed nerveless composure as he cleared all the balls.
The Sheffield-based potter, 32, punched the air as he walked off for the mid-session interval while the Barbican crowd gave him a standing ovation.
The world No.11 – who earned four extra points for a Lei foul – will go down in the record books for compiling the 208th 147 break in professional snooker.
And whatever he does in the tournament this week, Zhang is in line for a £15,000 bonus – though that would be shared if someone else achieves the feat before Sunday evening.
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Should he celebrate a 147 at either the Masters or the World Snooker Championship this season, he will be eligible for a £147,000 bonus.
This was relayed to seven-time world champion O'Sullivan and in a dig to World Snooker Tour bosses, he joked: “Okay, cool.
“So one’s not enough? You have got to make two these days to get it?
“Make them work a bit harder! No free lunch! No free lunch, mate!”
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O’Sullivan, sitting in the Eurosport commentary studio, added: “He’ll be buzzing. It’s a great feeling to make a 147.
“You look at 147s, that is the perfect 147. He’s never out of position.
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“Some people are potting blacks from here, reds from here. I’m like, that doesn’t really count.
“That was the perfect break. Such a good positional player.
“He’s so composed. When you have got such good positional play, then inside you feel calm.
“You’re confident you will be on the ball. Everything becomes a bit more calmer.”
O’Sullivan, 48, holds the record for 147s – his 15th was hit in October 2018 – but famously at the 2016 Welsh Open, he refused to go for one as the prize money on offer was “too cheap”.
He turned down the £12,000 cash prize and ended up hitting a 146 instead.
Five of the six 147s this season have been hit by Asian players – Mark Allen flies the flag for the home nations with his effort at the British Open in September.
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