Ryan Day knocked in a 145 at the Betfred World Snooker Championship on Wednesday to take the lead in high breaks. Day, 38, knocked the break in in his first round match with Scotland's Anthony McGill where he is currently leading 6 - 3. There has been a stream of breaks so far over 140, with Mark Williams kicking off the break bonanza with a 140.
Then, Crucible debutant Chris Wakelin knocked in a brilliant 141 in his match with Judd Trump before Ryan Day equalled that with another 141 before his magnificent 145. Thailand's Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, in his match which he lost to John Higgins, was on the verge of making a Crucible maximum until he broke down on the last red before needing the colours.
The only way Day's high break can be beaten is if a fourth 146 is made or indeed a maximum is hit.
Crucible Tons
So far in Crucible history there's been three, made by:
Mark Allen and Graeme Dott in 2010, the year Dott made the final.
last year at the Crucible, Ronnie O'Sullivan made a 146 break
There have been 20 146's in snooker history and in the Crucible, there's been 10 maximums made with Stephen Hendry making the last one in 2012.
The Ton Makers
The others are:
Stephen Hendry - 2009
Ronnie O'Sullivan and Alistair Carter 2008
Mark Williams 2005
Ronnie O'Sullivan 2003
Ronnie O'Sullivan 1997 (the fastest 147 in snooker history at 5 mins 20 seconds.)
Stephen Hendry 1995
Jimmy White 1992
Canada's Cliff Thorburn 1983 (the first ever Crucible maximum).
There have been five 145's in the history with players Joe Perry, Welshman Matthew Stevens and Doug Mountjoy all making the breaks. Cliff Thorburn is the only overseas player to have made a maximum at the Crucible. At the time of writing this, there's been 32 centuries with every one made there being £200 donated to the charity Jessie May and if the tally reaches 75, a massive £25,000 will be donated.
The record for the number of Crucible centuries remains 86, which were made in 2015/16. Last year the number was just one behind what is needed for the £25,000 target of 75. For the record to be broken, at least five tons need to be made each day from now until the close of the final which ends on the bank holiday Monday of the 7th May.
Ronnie O'Sullivan has made the most number of tons at the Crucible with 164. The four-times World Champion John Higgins is second with 128, while the likes of Mark Selby etc. All lag with the numbers in the 60s. If a maximum is made, there's £40K on offer with £10K for the high break prize.
