By Elliott West
Introduction
Cast your minds back to the 2004 UK Championship and prior to the tournament proper, the qualifiers took place. An event that is confined to booths and where the doors are firmly shut to television cameras. With little media column space, it would be easy to forget the spectacular occurrence that happened in one of these matches in the second qualifying round between Jamie Burnett and Leo Fernandez in the 14th frame. What followed, was so rare in snooker that it must have been an early Christmas present for the few people that witnessed the 148 break by Scotland’s Jamie Burnett.
The Break
Sadly no footage of this sporting rarity exists but it has to be one of the highlights of Jamie’s career. Then 29 years old and ranked 49 in the world rankings, Burnett couldn’t have imagined that this achievement would have been possible when he walked into the qualifying booth to face his opponent. Travelling to Pontins, Prestatyn in North Wales, a distance from the tournament itself at the Barbican in York, Jamie must have felt apprehensive about his chances of getting through this gruelling process and the consecutive hoops he would have to jump through to reach the first round of the UK Championship.
The best way to describe this snooker phenomenon is through the words of the snooker writer and commentator, Clive Everton, who later wrote an article on the spectacle for the Guardian in October 2004. Everton has perfected his craft of language over many years, a protege of Ted Lowe, here’s Clive recollection of the rare break:
“Under ordinary circumstances, the maximum break is 147 (15 reds, 15 blacks followed by the colours in sequence) and the professional circuit has seen 49 of these. However, an “extra” red is very infrequently created by a foul which leaves a free ball with all the reds remaining on the table”.
“Such a situation occurred after one shot each in the 14th frame. Because he was snookered after a foul, Burnett nominated brown as his extra red, potted the brown again as his colour and added all the reds with 12 blacks, two pinks and one blue before an adventurous clearance of the colours which featured several pots from distance. One of these cannoned the black to a side cushion and Burnett eventually needed a long extension on his cue to pot it and complete his clearance”.
Jamie Burnett went on to win this match, defeating his opponent in a close finish, winning the match 9-8. Ironically he went on to lose in the next round, the third round, losing to Barry Hawkins 4-9. This 148 break was overshadowed at the time by other more high profile sporting stories but remains a truly remarkable achievement in snooker. A feat that won him a mere £2000. In the tournament itself, David Gray did manage a break one point lighter. The 147 break achieved in the last 32 stages by Gray, was the player’s 50th maximum break ever made in professional play in his 9-3 victory against Mark Selby. Gray went on to reach the final but received a 10-1 drubbing by Stephen Maguire.
