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Mark Allen missed out on a place in the World Snooker Championship quarter-finals despite compiling the 15th Crucible 147 as qualifier Chris Wakelin powered his way to victory.
In an extraordinary second session, Allen fired his maximum in the 13th frame – in the process becoming the first player to do so in all three Triple Crown events – having failed to pot a single ball in any of the previous three as Wakelin turned a 6-2 overnight lead into an almost irretrievable 10-2 advantage by the mid-session interval.
And despite his perfect break, which left the Antrim star at least £40,000 richer, Allen’s long wait for a maiden world title goes on after Wakelin, who had never won a match in three previous visits to the Crucible, pressed on to establish a 12-4 lead by the end of the morning’s play before surviving a fleeting fightback in the evening session to see out a 13-6 win.
Asked how proud he was of his place in history, Allen told BBC4: “I was aware of that before the tournament started. I would swap it in a heartbeat to still be in the tournament. But it’s nice to be part of history.
“Even tonight there, to give myself another chance of the £147,000 bonus, it was a good buzz. That’s one positive that I’ll probably take a while to look back on before I’m happy about that.”
Allen’s hopes of a bright start had evaporated when he missed a simple yellow off its spot in the opening frame of the day to gift his opponent the chance to extend his lead to 7-2.
What followed was a master-class from Wakelin, whose attacking intent paid rich dividends as he delivered a break of 119 and two subsequent half-centuries.
Sensing nothing to lose after the interval, Allen made his intentions plain early in the next frame, targeting a long black and riding his luck on the yellow to wrap up his first 147 at the famous venue.
He punched the air after sinking the black and was warmly congratulated by Wakelin. His score will earn a share of the highest break prize with Jackson Page, who hit two maximums in qualifying, and an additional £40,000 for making a 147 at the Crucible.
The Northern Irishman returned for the evening session in determined mood and took the first two frames with breaks of 74 and – having potted 11 reds and 10 blacks – 81, but his tournament ended in a re-racked 19th frame during which he rattled the brown as he attempted to clear the colours to allow Wakelin back in.
Wakelin said: “I played how I know I can play. I’ve not backed it up in the previous times that I’ve come here, but it’s been in there for a while.”
John Higgins and Xiao Guodong remain locked together at 8-8 at the end of the second session of their second round match that concludes on Saturday.
Four-time champion Higgins looked set to start pulling away from his opponent after getting two snookers he required to force a re-spotted black when he led 7-6.
But after appearing to have done enough to clinch the frame with a fine cut, Higgins went in-off to hand the frame to Xiao and the last two of a fascinating and hard-fought session were shared.
Three-times world champion Mark Williams will take a 9-7 lead into the final session of his clash with Hossein Vafaei.
After the pair had resumed at 4-4, the Welshman raced into a 7-4 lead, opening up with a break of 122, although Vafaei reduced the deficit to 7-5 at the interval with a visit of 115 and then drew to within one as he edged a scrappy 13th.
However, breaks of 61 and 50 restored Williams’ two-frame advantage and he edged a tight safety battle to extend it to 9-6 – only for the Iranian to give himself hope with a clearance of 132, including a doubled final black.
Elsewhere, Zhao Xintong will take 5-3 lead into Saturday’s session of his clash with Chinese compatriot Lei Peifan.
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