The meaning of a maximum

Ronnie O'Sullivan scored a maximum this afternoon in the final frame of his 13-7 victory over Mark Williams in the second round of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. You can watch it here. O'Sullivan's last 147 was also in the final frame of a match, but in much more pressured circumstances, as it came in the deciding frame of his 9-8 victory over Mark Selby in the semi-finals of the UK Championship in December.

A maximum (that is, potting 15 all reds and blacks and clearing the colours in a single visit) is an interesting phenomenon, and I'm not sure it has an equivalent in any other sport. It is widely regarded as the supreme test of skill in snooker, but, at the same time, it has almost no bearing on whether a player wins a match. In the strict terms of the game, it is pointless; one gets no additional advantage from scoring a maximum over and above winning the frame (which one does long before one finishes potting the reds), and in fact a lot of frames must have been sacrificed over the years as a result of players attempting harder shots in order to keep their chances of a maximum alive. Of course, there is a financial incentive—Ronnie will get £157,000 as a result of today's effort—but, aside from that, the only reason for going for a maximum is glory.

Of course, other sports have what might be considered similar supreme tests of skill—hitting a hole in one in golf, scoring a goal from inside your own half in football, serving a game of aces in tennis, hitting six sixes in a row in cricket. But all these things follow on naturally from simply trying to play one's best (with the possible exception of six sixes: here a batsman might opt for the glory of the achievement despite it increasing his chances of getting out). But with a maximum a player makes a conscious decision: I am going to play in a way which marginally decreases my chances of winning this frame (and thus the match), in order to better demonstrate my audacious skill. Why is why, of course, Ronnie's scoring a 147 in the deciding frame of his semi-final against Mark Selby was such a staggering achievement.