Recently, Ronnie O'Sullivan completed his tenth 147-break, under the circumstances of open competition. It took him atop in the all-time list of most 147 produced, a single time ahead of the legendary Stephen Hendry. Nevertheless, this little piece of milestone would not be made without the little push from the referee Jan Verhaas.
147 is the normal maximum break in the snooker game. For snooker players, reaching 147 is like touching the celestial, I guess.
While there was one black ball left on the table, O'Sullivan hung up his cue, intended to shake hand with his opponent, as he had already won the game. At that moment, the referee interrupted, urged O'Sullivan to pot the final black "for the fans". The rest was history.
Everybody knows that O'Sullivan has a very strong character. He loves doing weird things. It would be head-scratching to left the lone black on the pool, for players other than O'Sullivan. It is a kind of insult to audiences. In addition, normal ones should be happy to put their names on the 147 list.
Luckily, Mr Jan Verhaas is shrewd enough to tame this pampered genius and let the tenth time happened. Hat off to the referee.
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