March 20 (Reuters) - Ronnie O'Sullivan snookered his opponent to earn a free ball and cleared the table to make the highest break in the sport's history with a 153, six more than the maximum 147, during his quarter-final with Ryan Day at the World Open on Friday.
O'Sullivan left Day's cue ball positioned behind other balls at the beginning of the frame, and after Day failed to hit it, the seven-time world champion potted a green as an extra red and then put away a black.
The 50-year-old then reeled off 15 reds, 13 blacks and two pinks before clearing the colours to land the record-breaking score.
The previous professional record of 148 was set by Jamie Burnett at the UK Championship qualifiers in 2004.
"It was a pretty cool moment, really happy to do it. Thank you to everyone out there who has supported me," O'Sullivan said in a video on X.
The Briton, who achieved a perfect 147 break 17 times previously, beat Day 5-0 in their last-eight meeting to set up a semi-final clash with Wu Yize.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)
