Spectator wins £25k after 147 at World Snooker Championship – but didn’t even see it

Mark Allen scooped more prize money than the defending champion with his 147 break at the World Snooker Championship.

The Pistol also earned £25,000 for a member of the crowd at The Crucible in Sheffield.

Allen produced a maximum break in the 13th frame of his second round clash with Chris Wakelin on Friday.

Trailing 10-2 at the mid-session interval, the Northern Irishman stopped a run of seven frames for his opponent with a 147 of his own.

It is the third maximum of the tournament and the first to be achieved in the main draw at The Crucible.

Jackson Page previously produced two during the qualifying stage earlier this momth.

Allen's heroics pocketed himself a £40,000 maximum break bonus on top of the £30,000 he was already guaranteed for making the last 16.

Meanwhile, an additional £25,000 was won by a member of the crowd.

It is part of an initiative by sponsors Midnite Sports and Casino, with one fan chosen each day to win the money if a 147 occurs.

Prize winner Brian Nicholls missed Allen's maximum break, though, as they were on the opposite side of the divide.

Instead, Nicholls had been watching the match between Mark Williams and Hossein Vafaei on table two.

He also revealed it was his first visit to The Crucible after receiving a ticket from his son for his 75th birthday.

Allen's bonus prize money alone is more than the winnings of players beaten in the first and second round.

Players eliminated in the opening round of the main draw take home £20,000, with £30,000 on offer to second round losers.

As a result, his single frame has earned him more than defending champion Kyren Wilson as well as Neil Robertson and Mark Selby.

In doing so, he became the 11th player to pull off a maximum break at the Crucible and the first since Selby did so in the 2023 final.

It is also the sixth 147 of the 39-year-old's professional snooker career.

Wakelin responded by winning the following frame, though, to move 11-3 in front and just two frames from victory.

The English cueist had been in fine form ahead of the mid-session interval by winning seven frames in a row.

His heroics stunned seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry on commentary, who hailed his 'phenomenal' potting.

The winner of the clash between Allen and Wakelin will face either Lei Peifan or Zhao Xintong in the quarter-finals.

They will also guarantee themselves at least £50,000 in prize money for reaching the last eight of the tournament.