By Elliott West
Introduction
Snooker has produced some very memorable maximum breaks over the years by Steve Davis, Cliff Thorburn, Kirk Stevens and Jimmy White, naming but a few. However, what is rarer to see is a 146 break. You have to flip the calendar back to 1972 to find an example of this rare, snooker holy grail, produced by Ray Reardon on Wednesday 18th October 1972 in a match at the Park Drive 2000 tournament.
The Moment of Magic
Ray Reardon was playing John Pulman on an Autumn evening at the Dial House, Sports and Leisure Club, Sheffield in an era that predates the Crucible Theatre. As the audience gathered at the venue, no one would have guessed the special moment that they would witness in this best of seven frames match.
Reardon won the first frame and as he sat down and lit a cigarette after a satisfying start to the match, the Welshman sat deep in the zone, waiting for the start of the second frame. Like any piece of memorable history, it has a habit of sprouting its wings when you least expect it. This was the case in this match and the second frame turned out to be that special sporting moment in this case.
Ray produced a fabulous 146 break that fell just short of a 147 break due to Reardon taking a pink instead of the black after the ninth red. A moment that sadly was not captured on film and is reliant on the witnesses and accounts of the phenomenon. Ironically, the man from Tredegar would go on to lose the next two frames to his flamboyantly dressed opponent, Pulman. However, Reardon went on to eventually defeat the Devonian 4-3.
For the Record Books
Ray’s 146 break would remain the highest until 1979 when John Spencer recorded a 147 break at the Holstein Lager International against Cliff Thorburn in the quarter-finals. Sadly this was not only not televised as the Thames camera crew were resting at the time but was later disallowed by the WPBSA due to the table being cut too generously. Snooker fans would have to wait until January 1982 when Steve Davis produced a maximum break against John Spencer in the Lada Classic.
Reardon 146 break would be the highest tournament break in his long career, a special and golden moment and sadly now, almost forgotten until now. The place where he made this moment of magic, Dial House, is now flats after finally closing its doors as a social club in 2005.
Thanks to Mark Watterson for his research on this subject and the photographs he kindly let me share.
