John Higgins makes his first Crucible 147 at World Snooker Championship

John Higgins became only the 11th player to score a 147 break at the Crucible to keep alive his hopes of reaching the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship.

The world No 5, who trailed Norway’s Kurt Maflin 5-3 overnight, made a strong start to Thursday’s morning session of his best-of-25-frame, second-round match and reduced the deficit to one. Maflin, the world No 43, responded with the next frame before moving 7-4 ahead after a break of 97.

Higgins, the four-times world champion, hit back with a sparkling maximum, the first achieved at the Sheffield venue since Stephen Hendry made his last Crucible appearance in 2012.

It is the 10th 147 break Higgins has made in his career, but his first at the world championship. He becomes the seventh player to achieve the feat in Sheffield, joining Hendry (1995, 2008, 2012) and Ronnie O’Sullivan (1997, 2003, 2008), who are the only players to manage multiple maximums at the Crucible, as well as Cliff Thorburn (1983), Jimmy White (1992), Mark Williams (2005) and Ali Carter (2008).