https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJWM1fxefxA
Before you go shouting ‘Duh, it’s clearly fake JOE’ we too have our doubts about the legitimacy of the video here, but give it a watch anyway and see what you think.
Ronnie O’Sullivan currently holds the world record for the fastest 147 break ever made, having potted all 15 reds, 15 blacks and all the colours (including the black again, of course) in five minutes and 20 seconds against Mick Price in the 1997 World Championships at the Crucible.
Making a 147 break is an incredible achievement no matter how long it takes to do it, but a video has surfaced on YouTube of an amateur English player completing the feat in four minutes and 49 seconds, which, of course, chalks 31 seconds off Ronnie’s time, a time that is unlikely to be beaten in the professional ranks unless Ronnie himself is in the mood before hanging up his cue for good.
The amateur player in question goes by the name of Darren McVicar and a quick Google search tells us that he’s a dab hand on the pool table around Plymouth but mentions little of his snooker feats.
In any case, the legitimacy of the break is not in doubt as he clearly pots every ball in the required sequence to make the 147, but we can’t help but think that there’s a little bit of rogue video editing going on to speed up the time, suspicions that were backed up to an even greater degree by the one person in the JOE office, our great videographer Peter Cooney, qualified to speak on such matters.
Anyway, have a look at the video above, judge for yourself and feel free to let us know what you think in the comment box below before comparing it to the master himself doing it on the biggest stage of all 17 years ago.
Video via YouTube/Paul Balston
Hat-tip to @Postman_Paddy for sending this one our way on Twitter
