Ding Junhui hit a maximum 147 during his quarter-final defeat to Neil Robertson at the Welsh Open in Cardiff.
After losing the opening frame, Ding produced a clearance of 120 to level only for Robertson to make a 140 break to move ahead again.
After the interval, Robertson led 4-1, needing only another frame to book a place in the semi-finals. However, Ding, the 2012 Welsh Open winner, rallied with a brilliant maximum break, screwing off the penultimate red into the middle pocket back on to the black before going on to sink the colours, taking the rest for the yellow and green.
After using a queue extension to slice the pink into the bottom corner, Ding sank the black to secure his sixth 147 and land the £10,000 prize. He could also win an extra £2,000 as the top break of the tournament, providing no one matches his feat in the remaining games.
The former world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan turned down the opportunity to make a maximum during his first-round match after potting 14 reds and 13 blacks, saying the fund was “too cheap” to try for the achievement. O’Sullivan played down the furore, claiming he was only “having a bit of fun”.
Despite Ding’s 147, he was unable to turn things round against Robertson as the world number three secured progress in the next frame after the interval, winning 83-1 to seal a 5-2 victory.
O’Sullivan admitted he had tried to produce a 147 himself in his 5-1 quarter-final demolition of Mark Selby following the promise of a bigger prize from a bookmaker this week. However, he failed to sink a black having made 57 in the third frame against the world No1.
Ding noted he was eyeing up his maximum from early on in the frame after seeing the position of the reds.
“The reds were looking good (so) I went for it and (it’s) the only chance I had for the good one,” he told BBC Radio 5 live. “It’s just a 147, a new record for me. I like to beat the records every time I play in the tournaments.”
Robertson and O’Sullivan were later joined in the semi-finals by Mark Allen and Joe Perry. Allen cruised through to a clash with Robertson by seeing off home hope Michael White 5-0 while Perry will meet O’Sullivan having defeated last year’s finalist Ben Woollaston 5-1.