Ronnie O'Sullivan Fastest 147 in History 5 minutes 8 seconds 1997 World Championship

My father was a very good friend of John Pulman (I think 6 times world snooker champion - the first in 1957, the year I was born!). In those days they would play exhibition matches around the country for £25. My father’s recollection is of them playing one such match at the Eccentric Club in London - gentlemen only in those days. My father would break (make the first shot) and retire to the bar while John cleared the table before joining him!

Coops

If you ever play snooker you will truly appreciate just how amazing that was and the talent necessary to play at the very top.

David Broome

You guys need to do the black ball final from 1985. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnyKjK4zAiE To my knowledge only a couple of reactions exist. It features Steve Davis (who was utterly dominant in the 1980s, vs Dennis Taylor who was a firm fan favourite and one of the voices you heard in the commentary box for Ronnie's fastest 147. The final over ran and other scheduled programming had to be cancelled to cover it. At 17 games each, the whole championship came down to the final black which caused them both real trouble. It was a huge moment in British Snooker history.

Gyle

To help you picture the size of a snooker table think of it this way. The width is the length of a pool table and the length is the length of two pool tables. A pool table being 6ftx3ft and a snooker table is 12ftx6ft.

Tass

There's one where Ronnie messes the 147 up on purpose because the bonus for getting it wasn't good enough, it used to be £147,000 but he used to do it all the time so they dropped it down

david mitchell

my grandad and his grandad were freinds in the east end off London in bad times, his dad went to prisi=on for life for murder

Matt Bentley

Youre a prick

Aidan McGarrigle

Snooker involves positional play. You need to always be thinking a shot or two ahead at least to ensure you can build a break. When you play the game you have even more admiration for what the good and brilliant players can actually do.

Nick Beer

''dude-ahhh''. She is so weird with adding ''ahh'' onto every other word

Craig Weir

Roll on the end of this pateron so dont have to hear Jess add ''ah'' onto random words . ''This is insane-ahhh'' ----- Also, dont bother 'replying' to me as I dont read it or I dont read it-ah as Jess would say

Craig Weir

Fine line between genius & insanity

Paul

Pot the reds then screw back for the yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black!

Captain Cardboard

Aw YES! More snooker videos.

SteJo

Hendry is a better sportsman. Anything ronnie can blame he will. The tip. The lights. The ref. The atmosphere. The table. The crowd

Craig Jackson

Snooker is my favourite sport, it requires so much skill. Just potting the balls takes so much precision however trying to control the cue ball and putting spin on it, side spin, a screw shot (to make the cue ball reverse) takes an incredible amount of skill. This shows a fast 147 however some frames (games) take well over an hour. There can be an immense amount of safety play, foul shots, flukes, incredible pots…. True snooker fans enjoy the big breaks like this but also the tactical play as well. It’s like no other sport in that you could potentially have one shot (a break off) and then sit there for the rest of the game and lose. The world championships have just ended in Sheffield in Yorkshire where I am from, and it’s such a brilliant event steeped in history and tradition I would strongly recommend you watching some matches if you can, if you have any questions about it guys just give me a shout :)

Craig Jackson

There’s a side-by-side video of Ronnie completing this 147 quicker than Mark Selby playing a single shot.

Bryn Hargreaves

There's a side-by-side video on YouTube of this and Peter Ebdon's 12!

Captain Cardboard

And that, ladies & gentlemen, is how you play snooker 👌🏻

Paul

Pronounce it Snoowka not snuka, it's actually strange that in America you do actually use the term "to get snookered" or "snookered themselves" but very few Americans even know what snooker is but have the expression that comes from this very sport, snooker or snookered meaning to trick - trap or put in a generally difficult position.

Gary

you need to look at better footage of the size of those tables they look small on screen. Also watch other highlights from games and things to really see the crazy control they can have with their shots

Reece Bensted

Imagine watching that not knowing he scores max break

James

I'm going to add the hurricane's impossible break against Jimmy White and the black ball final to the clip list, hopefully they will get some votes

Richard Stokes

Thats what u call perfect👌

Theloyalmuppet

You should watch his 147 from the 2010 world open. After the 1st red and black he asks the referee what the prize money is for a 147. He then goes on to make the maxi but the ref has to convince him to pot the last black. Crazy

Michael Kempster

Ouch... but fair.

Andy

Bobby

I am awful! I hate the feel of the material on the table so I can never concentrate on the shot!!!

Andrew PC

Anyone any good at snooker? I miss our old snooker club, not the snooker, I was useless, but they did the best burger and a pint

Christian Rolfe

Snooker table = 12 foot American pool table = 9 foot 6 foot pool tables are quite common here You can also get shorter snooker tables. I had a 6 foot one when growing up. I don’t have room but was thinking of getting a little table top one. There are YouTube videos of people doing ridiculous breaks on a 3 foot table.

Julian T

This is the fastest 147, the best 147 is Stephen Hendrys against O'Sullivan in the 1997 final frame, it was 8-8 first to 9 and Hendry came out and rattled in a 147 to win match and title

BrizeeB

Hendry at his peak just as good

BrizeeB

Ronnie is the GOAT🐐

Dango247

As someone has remarked, Mike and Jess if you actually stood next to a Snooker table and tried a relatively simple shot you would be even more amazed at how the professionals can play so quickly and accurately control the cue ball. The balls are slightly smaller and lighter than pool balls but the table pockets are also smaller.

Fordy7169

I used to watch snooker with my gran as a kid in the 90’s. This brings back so many nice memories.

Kayleigh

You should watch his documentary 'the edge of everything', it's a fascinating watch, here's the trailer > https://youtu.be/-fufI8Y6h7I?si=HWLqmtU1EwRlMpeH

Jason Bonner

Watch the one where he deliberately pots a different colour because he wasn't happy with the prize money for a 147.

Gary Moore

You really need to see a snooker table in real life. It's gargantuan. Like a lawn. You could have a picnic on one.

trev

Add it to the playlists, that way it will come up for a vote at some point for a reaction.

Brucey Mitchell (Cheeky)

In my experience going to a pub and playing pool is pretty fun. Even if you aren’t good you can still sink a few pints and string a few shots together and feel like you are a decent player. However when I’ve gone and played snooker it’s hard enough just being sober, a couple of pints later I just don’t want to play anymore lol

Rob G

What is remarkable about Ronnie is that he has had his struggles with mental health. His dad got life for murder when he was in his teens. Great Prime documentary about Ronnie.

Thomas

Add it to the playlists, then you can be sure it will come up for the vote at some point.

Brucey Mitchell (Cheeky)

It's obvious you guys showed your appreciation of how impressive this was but get yourselves around a snooker table playing a game, it will then seem superhuman pulling that off, he makes it look so effortless. Making a shot with the slightest error in the angle can really throw the ball off so far because of the distance it has to travel with the size of the table. Plus understanding how to manipulate the cue ball in such a way as you seen here is something else too, all down to where the cue ball is struck, the pace it is given, the angle at which the cue is held and judging the reaction it will have bouncing off of the cushion.

Ho8566

If Jess likes the movement of the cue ball, one of the Jimmy White best shots videos ought to be next on the list; she’ll love Jimmy even more 😁

HoratioMcSherry

If you enjoyed that, I recommend a compilation of Mark Williams greatest shots (or maybe, just snookers greatest shots in general)

James Welsh

I could be wrong on this. An easy explanation of the size of a snooker table, is that the width of a snooker table is equivalent to the length of a pool table. The pockets are also smaller than a pool table, making it more challenging.

Jay

The great thing about you two is even when you dont nescessarilly 100% understand something you pay attention and pretty much figure it out yourselves, a bit of common sense is lacking nowerdays so its a breath of fresh air to see an american couple like you two!

Alex Whitworth

Jess's face when Ronnie screws back the white ball on the second black is great!

John Lawless

Ronnie's made 15 maximum breaks in pro competitions. He's made some controversial plays due to, in his opinion, the prize money for a 147 being too low in certain tournaments as it hasn't always been £147,000. For example, he once played a match against Mark King where, in the final frame, he made a 140 break and went to shake Mark's hand, leaving the black on the table. The referee had to talk him into potting it for the 147. On that occasion, there was no prize money for a 147, but there was a £4,000 prize for the highest break.

Sigma

You really need to try snooker to appreciate it. On TV the table doesn't look that big, even when they're using rests. But when you try... You realise how crap you are and stick to pool. Chinese pool is quite fun, it takes a bit from all the main games, but they play on what looks like mini snooker tables, as in the same materials, leather pockets etc. As obviously a pool table looks somewhat like a mini version.

Andy

One of the most naturally gifted sportsmen of all time. A troubled genius, interesting guy. Interestingly he did a show where he went to America to hustle pool players...Ronnie O'Sullivan's American Hustle. Good show.

Joe Tomen

He threw his chalk into the crowd at the end and needed another one

Erica

Great reaction guys, he's just incredible. Still plays, just the best ever imo Surprised how into it Jess was!

Daz Parker

Snooker is very quiet. Check out Stephen Hendry vs Karl Boyes 9 ball pool - Stephen Hendry is another legend of snooker

Kieran B

The knuckles around the pockets are way less forgiving than a pool table and the pockets are smaller, combine that with the much bigger table and the angles and the pockets are so unforgiving. I'm useless at snooker but good at pool, once you get to a decent level you start thinking two or three shots ahead. A 147 in snooker is on such a different level than most of us can dream of.

Terrahawk

Are you saying Expecially? If so, why? :D

Karl shields

Agree to a point. You can't truly appreciate how good this 147 is, unless you've lived Snooker your entire life. Hypothetically It's like an average Brit watching a video on Babe Ruth's greatest baseball runs, and expecting it to have the same impact as it would an avid American baseball fan. (Disclaimer: I know Babe Ruth was before the advent of televised games, but it's the only US baseball player I know).

Jay

The cue ball control is phenomenal. I don’t think there’s much difference in the size of balls (that’s what she said) but the pockets are much narrower

Kieran B

You should watch Ronnie O'Sullivan's American Hustle. It's 4 episodes where he travels around the US playing pool against people who don't realise hes the best in the world. It's all on Youtube.

LEE

If you ever want to mix comedy and snooker, this celebration of the 1985 World Final on the 25th anniversary is an awful lot of fun: https://youtu.be/CmwgkT7f0uI?si=sfdgVQBLAjrhx5gO

David Smith

Cant watch this right now, but look forward to your reaction, Ronnie really makes this look easy, but a 147 is one of the hardest things in sports. Arguably harder than a hole in one in golf or a 9-darter in darts.

James Welsh

“One four seven” or “maximum”, not “one forty seven”

Moody Marco

I’ve been an avid snooker fan for nigh on 30yrs and it still baffles me that in the grand scheme of things, Brits think that this is something Americans need to see.

BoSquiddly

I haven’t watched yet, so apologies if jumping the gun and am wrong here, but I’ve seen so many American reactions to this WITHOUT knowing the basic rules of snooker first and it takes a lot of the shine off it

Moody Marco