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Ronnie O'Sullivan made history by pulling off a remarkable 153 break last year, but it technically wasn't the highest ever. The Rocket achieved his record-breaking feat in the quarter-finals of the World Open earlier this year. He ultimately finished as the runner-up, losing to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the final despite winning the opening four frames.

O'Sullivan utilised a free ball to create a 16-red scenario. He potted the green as a free ball followed by the black, then 14 reds with 13 blacks and two pinks before clearing the colours. It was the highest ever break in a competitive match, but his World Open nemesis had already done something even more special behind closed doors.

Un-Nooh pulled off an astonishing break of 155 in just eight minutes during a practice frame against Hossein Vafaei in 2021. It wasn't televised, but CCTV cameras at the Q House Snooker Academy made sure the moment was immortalised.

The match started with a foul by Vafaei, which resulted in a free ball. Un-Nooh responded by potting the black before completing a 147 break, taking his total up to 155.

He was seen celebrating wildly after sinking the final ball, but had precious little time to bask in his glory as Vafaei quickly reset the table for another practice frame.

Un-Nooh wasn't even the first to complete this rare break in snooker. English player Jamie Cope achieved the same feat during a witnessed practice frame in the summer of 2005, when he was just 20 years old.

Cope, nicknamed The Shotgun, went on to climb as high as 13th in the world rankings and managed to achieve three 147 breaks in professional matches during his career.

O'Sullivan, meanwhile, was full of praise for Un-Nooh after the World Open final and admitted that he was on the receiving end of a "good hiding".

He added: "Thepchaiya was unbelievable, deserves his victory, he played much better than me today. I watched his game yesterday in the semi-finals, he was strong. I couldn't go with that, he was far too good for me.

"My game's not good enough to go to that level, simple as that. It used to be. Everyone's played okay against me this week, so my game is good enough to beat players playing okay.

"I just can't get to the potting angle of certain shots, I can play maybe 60-70 per cent of shots comfortably, but there's other shots I just don't have in my locker.

"When someone plays like that, I'm just one-dimensional, really. It limits what I can do and the amount of pressure I can put on my opponent. I just have to accept that's how it is."

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