Maximum joy but Allen beaten by Wakelin at Crucible

Chris Wakelin celebrates in front of a disappointed Mark Allen

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen made an "incredible" 147 break but was defeated by England's Chris Wakelin in an absorbing World Championship second-round match.

Allen trailed 10-2 after losing the opening four frames of the morning on Friday. He went straight to the practice table in the interval and then produced snooker's moment of perfection in the first frame after the restart.

It made him only the 11th player to make a 147 at the Crucible. The maximum was the 15th at the venue in the tournament's history and the first since Mark Selby's clearance in the 2023 final.

However, world number 20 Wakelin, who beat former world champion Neil Robertson in round one, was not distracted and managed to triumph 13-6 and move into the quarter-finals.

"It's magic," said 33-year-old Wakelin. "I've got a lot of confidence in my game and have played some really good stuff. I'm not going to get ahead of myself. There are some very good players left in this tournament. I'm one of them.

"The first time I came here 15 years ago I watched Mark win a first or second-round match. So to beat him, one of the greatest in our game, it's crazy."

'I would rather have made lots of 30s and still been in'

The maximum break was Allen's second 147 of the season, having made one during his third-round match against Ben Mertens at the British Open, and the fifth of his career.

The achievement is set to earn 39-year-old Allen £45,000 and was the 217th maximum in snooker's history. The cash bonus will be split if another player makes a 147 in the tournament.

Despite that special moment, Allen was downbeat at his elimination.

"I don't just come here to make 147s," said Allen. "I would rather have made lots of 30s and still been in the event. I always come here to become world champion so anything less will always be disappointing.

"I made a 147 at the Crucible and many people would be happy, but it [losing in round two] is a million miles away from where I want to be."

Allen had a chance for a second maximum in frame 18, only to miss after potting 11 reds and 10 blacks.

If he had made two 147s, he would have collected an extra £147,000, which is on offer for any player to achieve that in the World Championship, Masters, UK Championship and Saudi Masters.

Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, speaking on BBC TV, called the maximum clearance "absolutely phenomenal" and added: "What a performance. Unbelievable. Incredible from Mark Allen.

"He was 10-2 behind and he's not scored a point for three frames, comes out after the interval and he makes a 147."

Lucky fan scoops £25,000 after Allen maximum

Brian Nicholls pictured with Mark Allen

Coming to the Crucible is always special, but it became even more so for one fan as he pocketed £25,000.

One of the event's sponsors, Midnite Sports and Casino, has been running an initiative where for each session at the Crucible, one person in the crowd is randomly selected and if a 147 happens, on either table, they win the money.

The lucky winner was Brian Nicholls from Tamworth, a lifelong snooker fan who had never been to the Crucible before and was bought a ticket by his son as a present for his 75th birthday.

He told the media he fancied taking his family on an American cruise next year with the winnings.

"Twenty-five grand is a lot of money, it's lovely," he said. "I wasn't calm, my heart was pounding. After the yellow, that was the ball where I thought 'it's on'. My son had pointed out a possible 147 with a few reds left.

"I though he [Allen] had blown it when he got to the yellow as they are only human and can make a mistake. When that black went in, wow, lovely! I couldn't believe it.

"The Crucible is a wonderful place, I've been walking around it having a look around."

Williams leads Vafaei as Higgins faces Xiao tussle

Wales' three-time world champion Mark Williams built a 9-7 lead after two sessions of his last-16 match with Iran's Hossein Vafaei.

There was only one break above 50 in the morning session and that came from Williams with his 67 in frame four to make it 2-2.

The first frame of the evening was re-racked three times before Williams made a break of 122 on his way to a 7-4 advantage.

Vafaei scored two centuries, 115 in frame 12 and 132 in frame 16, but Williams only needs four more frames when the match restarts at 14:30 BST on Saturday.

After his first-round win over China's Wu Yize, Williams said he hopes eye surgery in June will help to extend his snooker career.

Williams, who turned 50 in March, said his "eyes had completely gone" and his eyesight had "deteriorated quite badly" in the previous six months.

Meanwhile, Vafaei, 30, was also struggling with a shoulder injury and was seen regularly doing stretching exercises between frames.

Four-time champion John Higgins drew level at 8-8 through two sessions of his match with China's Xiao Guodong, with the final session beginning on Saturday at 10:00 BST.

Higgins thought he had taken an 8-6 lead when it went down to a re-spotted black, which he potted, only to instantly lose the frame when the cue ball also went in.

But the Scot won the last frame of the afternoon with a break of 129, his second century of the match.

Zhao holds advantage over compatriot Lei

Qualifiers Lei Peifan and Zhao Xintong gained fine wins in the first round over 2024 champion Kyren Wilson and last year's runner-up Jak Jones respectively.

That set up their all-Chinese last-16 match, and Zhao moved into a 5-3 lead on Friday by winning the last three frames with breaks of 53, 97 and 61.

Former UK Championship winner Zhao is classed as an amateur but will be a full-time player on the tour next season.

It comes following his return to the sport in September after serving a 20-month ban. He was one of 10 players from China to be punished in a match-fixing scandal.

He received the lightest penalty as he had not directly thrown a match but accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.