Two days after Ronnie O’Sullivan described the venue as a “hellhole”, the five-time world champion treated the crowd at the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley to the 15th maximum break of his career.
The 147 sealed O’Sullivan’s 4-0 victory over Allan Taylor in the second round of the English Open.
Earlier in the week O’Sullivan complained that he could smell urine in the player interview area and criticised event organisers for not separating the tournament from other sports being played at the leisure centre.
But the TV table at least seemed to be playing perfectly as the 42-year-old potted blacks with each of the 15 reds before clearing the colours, despite claiming to be “twitching” on shots.
The man is an ANIMAL on the baize! 👏
A 15th career maximum for @ronnieo147 here at the @BetVictor English Open… #EnglishOpen pic.twitter.com/zYKuCOhr61
— World Snooker (@WorldSnooker) October 17, 2018
“I did think about it from the first red because I thought I’ve got to try and do something in this match to get myself excited,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport.
“From about 40-odd I was in bits, I was twitching all over the gaff. My back arm was like a bit of fish, flapping all over the gaff and then they’ve (fellow players) all gone quiet to watch the max and I thought, ‘That’s the worst thing you can do, just carry on playing, make some noise, do something’.
“When it went too quiet you felt the pressure is on you even more. I didn’t even fancy potting that (last) black to be honest with you, I was feeling it.”
O’Sullivan, who also made a break of 135 in the second frame, added: “I felt sorry for Allan out there because you could see he was struggling, he’s a lot better player than that. I think the conditions and just being on the TV table got to him a bit.
“I got a bit fortunate earlier on, I missed quite a few balls. We both did and my bad was a bit better than his bad.”
O’Sullivan will play either Jimmy White or Matthew Stevens in the third round.
