Snooker: Ronnie O'Sullivan gave his supporters plenty to shout about after compiling a maximum 147 break at the Northern Ireland Trophy.
'The Rocket' potted 15 reds and 15 blacks, and then cleared all the colours for the seventh time in his career in an impressive 5-2 win over Tiptree professional Ali Carter.
It was the 59th maximum clearance in professional snooker, the 36th at a ranking event and also the third so far this season.
It was O'Sullivan's seventh maximum of his career and came in just eight minutes and three seconds at Belfast's Waterfront Hall.
The two-time world champion also had four more century breaks in the match, the first time any player has ever achieved that in a best-of-nine frame match.
O'Sullivan had further breaks of 108, 122, 107 and 129 to earn a quarter-final meeting with either Dubliner Fergal O'Brien or Beckenham's Barry Hawkins at this year's £200,500 event.
If his break is not bettered, the 31-year-old will take home an additional £22,000 in prize money. A prize of £20,000 for the 147 break and £2,000 on top for the highest break prize.
He said: "I'm not really interested in records. I've got nothing positive to say though, when I'm like that I might as well say nothing.
"I got lucky because Ali made it easy for me because he missed a lot of balls.
"I can't face practising at the moment because I'm playing rubbish. It was all right. It's nice to get 147s, it's a good feeling.
"Once you get down to the last red there's a lot of pressure because you've come so far and you don't want to mess it up at the end.
"I got on the green and I got a big bounce off the cushion. I left myself a really difficult brown, but I hit it really sweet. Then it was just a question of keeping position."
Seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry is out of this year's tournament after he crashed to a 5-2 loss to Shaun Murphy, the 2005 Crucible champion.
Scot Hendry managed a high break of only 48, while Rotherham-based professional Murphy, the world number three, went through with runs of 87, 60, 63, 73 and 59.
He meets defending UK champion Peter Ebdon in the quarter-finals tomorrow.