Fan Zhengyi s SUPER 147 at Championship League Snooker

Fan Zhengyi then won that opening frame, but it was a very open Ju Sir already. He had time upstairs to check the machinations, the permutations. He's already won the group, and deservedly so. He played superbly earlier in his first two matches. He's got a certain calm, a certain coolness when he's in amongst them. Really well focused, concentrated on what he's doing. Better length on the safety this time from Ju Sir. Yeah, and it forced a mistake from Fan. Not a sit of this though, it's thin by quite a way actually. One of those matches where there's something riding on it for one of the players, nothing riding on it for the other. Tell you what though Dave, he's done a lot of good stuff in his career, hasn't he? Ju Sir, former World Under-21 champion. Semi-finalist at the Indian Open in 2017, when he was still a fresh-faced pro. And earlier this year, in qualifying for the Welsh Open, he made his third 1-4-7. I say third 1-4-7, third 1-4-7 in pro competition he's played. And not in countless maximums in practice. Yeah, he made those three in quite a short space of time, it was something like 18 months. In fact, I don't think it was even that long. So he sort of was like London buses, once he'd made one, he just kept coming. Although he's a professional, of course, he's already thinking about the next stage now. Why wouldn't he be? It's interesting though, in the safety here he's actually competing quite hard, even though you sort of think he'd be more open. Caught that a little on the thick side, having said that. Now, because of that, the fan can see the red near to right corner. They're really grinding on on the other table. Your assessment, Dave, that our match could be over before the last match goes on, on table two, could be correct. Now this is a really precise shot. Obviously, he knew he would be on the ping. But the bonus is, he's on the black through the gap. Well, this needs precise cueing. Red to left middle, which he's done. It's still slightly awkward over the red. It could have all been so different today for Fan Zhengyi. Looks certain to play out a two-all draw with Liam Highfield. But in the closing frame of that match, as he pots a good black there, in the closing frame of that match, he was 71-0 ahead with four reds left. Now, Highfield potted three reds, three blacks, laid a tough snooker on the last red, which Fan missed. Then Highfield played another, and it was a rather surprising shot choice that he chose to try and swerve around the brown to hit the red. He missed the red completely, hit the black, which was calamitous in itself, and even more so, he left a free ball. Highfield cleared up. Yeah, I mean, in a straight knockout match, you might have recovered from that, unless it was the last frame, but that was the last frame of that match, and then he was straight back on, and his attitude in the next one was, I'm just going to try and go for everything and get the sort of annoyance out of my mind. And, of course, he only drew 2-2, which is why he's come into this match unable to win the group, sort of scrapping, really, to get third spot. But if he wins this frame, he will do that. The loftier goals in mind. Yeah, I was just thinking that. He had that strange superstition, didn't he, early in his career, that he didn't want to make a century unless it was a maximum. He wanted his first century to be a maximum. It wasn't, but he has made one subsequently. It's a bit like saying you want your first tournament win to be the World Championship. Yeah, this didn't really come to light, did it, until we realised just what a good player he was, and we saw his century breaks total. It was minuscule, maybe even zero, and that's when we discovered what the reason was. Still on the black. We had 15 on the World Snooker Tour last year, a record, but we're looking for our first one this season. Louis Heathcote's been the closest so far. He broke down on the yellow on 120. Well, he can play the red on the right-hand side still on the black. The one on to the left corner, he's going away from the black, but this one should keep him on it. So a match that sort of felt not quite dead, but not that meaningful, could be very memorable if he can continue on to the maximum. Well, it's an unpressurised environment, if ever playing on TV was unpressurised. There have been 217 maximums in professional competition. He was responsible for the 204th against Liam Pullen in the English Open in September last year. Yeah, that was the thing about Jackson Page's two maximums in the same match, which was an incredible feat. Don't think I'm not suggesting that, but he was 9-2 up when he had the chance to make the second one. So he was going to win the match. He could go for it. And I feel Fan is in a sort of similar position here in a match that, OK, he does need to win a second frame, but he's not going to decide the group. The first shot was a good one, wasn't he? As you said at the time, to land on the black. The pink was probably the ball he was going to take, but he landed so well on it, and he's still on it. The frame is secured in terms of snookers required, so he can really give it his focus now. It's a pretty good chance this, I think. You look at the reds, obviously, there's no reds on cushions, but there's still pressure. If he did make a second 1-4-7, he would join Peter Ebden, Cliff Thorbur on that mark. Obviously, Jackson Page as well, and Mark Davis, who made 2-1-4-7s in the Championship League in 2017. Both positive and negative aspects to that shot. Yes, he's moved one red away from the other. He's got just a little more angle on the black than he wanted, so he might have to be adventurous with the cue ball here, take it on a lengthy journey. It might help the yellows off its spot. He may just come to his rescue. The cue ball's got to travel, so it could still go wrong in terms of landing on the red. Also, concentrate on the pot as well. He's gone over the yellow spot, but the yellow's not on it. Well, he has got back for reds, but it's getting harder to continue cue ball on the side cushion. There's always a sort of moment of difficulty, it seems, in a 1-4-7 attempt, and he's reached his here. But it doesn't mean he won't still pot this and continue. He's played this really well. What a lovely shot that is. So, crisis averted, Phil. It's on. It really is. They say, don't they, one of the toughest shots in a 1-4-7 is from the 15th black to the yellow, and this positional shot will be a little more complex than normal because the yellow isn't on its spot, but it's still in the open. Well, as Dave said, last season was record-breaking in terms of the number of 1-4-7s compiled. The first maximum didn't arrive until September the 1st. We could be ahead of schedule, but the cue ball hasn't run. Hit the black a little thick there. That's why the white didn't journey on to where he wanted to be. He can get on the black, but it would not be the easiest pot. I think our excitement level on the colours could depend entirely on this. If he pulls this off, they are all there for him. Just click the green. Could have done without that. Click this yellow in and land on the green. Yellow's in, the cue ball's running. Come on, come on. Oh, what a shot he's played here. Superb. And now it's about keeping cool. The last few pots have been super. Yes, and it doesn't matter how many maximums there have been. As Phil says, there have been over 200. It's still a break every player wants to make. You see so many near misses, so many attempts that go awry because there's so many variables, as we've seen in this break. But he keeps clearing the hurdles. He needs three more. Black for the first maximum break on the World Snooker Tour this season. And we know with the quality of the players, it will not be the last. Fantastic from Fan Zhengyi. He makes his second competitive maximum. It's not been the happiest day for him in terms of this group at the Championship League. But my word, that has just cheered him up.