World Snooker Championship star banks £147k bonus but still might not play tournament | Other | Sport

World Championship hopeful Chang Bingyu banked a whopping £147,000 for his exploits in qualifying… but might still miss out on a spot in the main draw. The Chinese potter was coming up against former Crucible King, Luca Brecel, when he pulled off a maximum break.

The World Snooker Tour had been offering players who achieved two 147 breaks in the World Championship, UK Championship, Masters and Saudi Arabia Masters this season. The bumper £147,000 reward was given to Ronnie O’Sullivan earlier in the year when he managed two in the same match at the Saudi Arabia Masters.

Chang’s effort wasn’t quite as impressive, however, he did enter World Championship qualifying with one 147 to his name in the required tournaments so far. He’d managed it at the UK Championship qualifying, and followed it up with another in the match against Brecel.

What’s more, if there are no further 147 breaks between now and the end of qualifying, he’ll add another £15,000 to his coffers for the highest break prize. But the real prize for Chang would be a spot in the main draw of the World Championship, with the 23-year-old boasting a 5-4 overnight lead.

Chang has been receiving plenty of praise since his return, with Shaun Murphy having lauded the youngster following a recent Welsh Open clash. He told TNT Sports at the time: “That was as good as anything I’ve ever witnessed in my 35 years playing snooker.

“I’ve always said that if your opponent doesn’t miss, you can’t win, and today I was proved right. That’s what makes snooker a unique sport. There’s no right of reply.”

Meanwhile, in a separate BBC Wales interview, Murphy added: “That’s the best performance in a best-of-seven match that I’ve ever seen. If that were Ronnie O’Sullivan or Judd Trump, it would be on the news. It was quite literally the best performance I’ve ever witnessed in a match of that length.

“I mean, you can copy and paste my comments from last week from the Players Championship. It’s another absolutely outstanding performance from an opponent against me this season. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about it – what a performance and what a player.”