Ronnie O’Sullivan fires angry dig at snooker bosses while commentating at UK Championship

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Ronnie O’Sullivan has hit out at snooker chiefs over the bonus structure for maximum breaks following Zhang Anda’s perfect 147 at the UK Championship.

The seven-time world champion reacted sarcastically when informed of the prize money system, saying: “Okay, cool. So one isn’t enough? You have to earn two these days to get it?”

“Make them work a little harder! No free lunch! No free lunch, mate!” O’Sullivan added from Eurosport’s commentary studio.

Zhang, who recently changed his nickname from Mighty Mouse to Snooker Panda, achieved the remarkable feat during frame four of his UK Championship Last 32 match against Lei Peifan.

Ronnie O'Sullivan UK Championship

Ronnie O’Sullivan has hit out at snooker bosses over the bonus structure for maximum breaks after Zhang Anda’s perfect 147 at the UK Championship

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Zhang is in line for a £15,000 bonus for his maximum break at the British Championship, although this will have to be split if another player matches the feat before Sunday night.

The stakes are even higher for maximum breaks at snooker’s most prestigious events.

Should Zhang achieve a 147 at either the Masters or the World Snooker Championship this season, he would be eligible for a substantial £147,000 bonus.

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Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O’Sullivan said Zhang Anda’s 147 was ‘perfect’ at the British Championship

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This marks the sixth maximum break of the current snooker season.

O’Sullivan, watching from the commentary box, praised Zhang’s technical excellence at half-time.

“That’s the perfect 147. He’s never out of position,” noted the snooker legend.

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Contrasting that with less polished maximum breaks, he said, “Some people pot black from here, red from here. I guess that doesn’t really count.”

O’Sullivan highlighted Zhang’s composure, adding: “When you have such good positional play, you feel calm inside. You’re sure you want to be on the ball.”

O’Sullivan holds the record for maximum breaks in professional snooker, having achieved his 15th in October 2018.

The Rocket has previously protested what he considered insufficient prize money for 147s, most notably at the 2016 Welsh Open.

During that tournament he deliberately turned down a £12,000 bonus by opting to make a break of 146 instead.

Five of this season’s six maximum breaks have been achieved by Asian players, with Mark Allen scoring the other at the British Open.