Shaun Murphy hit the first 147 maximum break at the BetVictor Shoot Out as he blasted past Hungarian teenager Bulcsu Revesz into the second round in Swansea.
Revesz, 16, broke off in the quickfire tournament, where matches are played over one frame of 10 minutes’ duration, and hit the blue on the way back up the table.
Murphy, who won the world title in 2005, needed no second invitation, as he swiftly cleared up the reds and was about to take the blue into the top-right pocket when someone from the audience shouted “don’t bottle it now”.
The 41-year-old Englishman showed nerves of steel as he sank the blue off the cushion, before coming back for the perfect angle off the pink and onto the black, which he rolled in the bottom left pocket with two minutes and 26 seconds of the frame left.
The previous best break in the competition was Mark Allen with 142.
Speaking to Eurosport after his victory, Murphy said: “On the (final) blue a fella shouted out ‘don’t bottle it’. Goodness me, my heart’s going. It was great fun.
“I love the event and can’t believe what’s just happened. It was a real buzz. You get excited out there playing this event, win or lose.
“I’ve done both, played really nicely and really badly, but for the fans here, they’ve seen something special, it was a pleasure to play for them.”
Elsewhere in Thursday’s first-round action in Swansea, Mark Joyce ended the hopes of Rebecca Kenna, amateur Steven Hallworth knocked out Welshman Jamie Jones, while 16-year-old Jack Borwick beat Adam Duffy for a maiden professional victory.
World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui defeated Liam Highfield to secure his place in the second round and 17-year-old Stan Moody saw off Rory McLeod to also progress to the last 64.
In Thursday’s evening session at the Swansea Arena, a break of 92 helped David Lilley beat Reanne Evans, while Northern Ireland’s Jordan Brown edged out Gary Wilson 30-29 and Brazilian Victor Sarkis progressed after beating John Astley.
Thailand’s Mink Nutcharut saw her hopes ended in a 54-5 defeat by Anthony Hamilton before veteran three-time former world champion Mark Williams finished off the night with a 68-4 win over Matthew Selt to delight the home crowd.
The random draw for the last 64 paired Murphy against Dominic Dale, while 13-year-old Shaun Liu, who became the youngest winner of a televised ranking match on Wednesday, will play Dean Young.
