Selby claims historic 100th maximum break
London (AFP) - Defending champion Mark Selby made history at the UK Championship on Saturday when he completed the 100th maximum break in professional snooker during his winning semi-final against Ricky Walden.
The Englishman's 147 will earn him a prize of £55,000 ($90,000, 66,000 euros) in addition to a £4,000 bonus for recording the highest break in the tournament -- provided his achievement is not matched.
Selby made the break in the seventh frame at the Barbican Centre in the northern English city of York, playing a superb pot on the brown and then nudging an extremely awkward black into the middle pocket to complete the feat.
"Up until the green I had played pretty much the perfect break, but then there was some tension because the brown only went to one pocket and it was hard work from then on," he said.
"It was a great moment, but I am still involved in a tough semi-final, which isn't over."
The break gave Selby a 5-2 lead in the best-of-17-frames encounter and he ended the first session 6-2 up.
He then went on to complete a 9-5 win to set up a meeting with Australian world number one Neil Robertson in Sunday's final.
