Statistics this season show that rising snooker standards are not figments of the sponsor's imagination. No fewer than nine maximum breaks have been compiled this season, which is more than the total made throughout the 1980s.
Pride of place goes to Stephen Hendry, who has made seven maximums, six of them in front of television cameras. Hendry, along with Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Higgins, knocked in two maximums this season alone. Hendry's first came in the British Open final and was only the second 147 witnessed in a final. The second came in the UK Championship, where he picked up a £20,000 SRi Vectra for his efforts. O'Sullivan has compiled four 147s as a pro including the three fastest, two of them coming this season in the Grand Prix and the Regal Scottish. He made his first maximum at the age of 15 in the English Amateur Championship.
And what does all this mean? Well, both top potters went out in the first round of this year's world championship to virtually unknown players.