Chang Bingyu pulled off an astounding shot to complete the first 147 break of his career in qualifying for the UK Championship. The man from China, who is currently ranked 74th in the world, achieved the feat during his match against Stephen Maguire in Wigan. It came just two days after Liam Pullen made a 147 to equal the record 15 maximums achieved across the sport last season.

Chang had to dig deep to complete his break after coming up short on the final pink off the blue to right middle. He slammed it in with pace but was left with a tough cut on the black to the top left-hand pocket. He needed to use the rest but somehow managed to sink the final ball, nearly potting the white in the process.

Phil Yates, commentating for TNT Sports, was left stunned by Chang’s brilliance and said: “That really was a pleasure to watch. You know, there have been 233 maximums in professional competition. I would guess that is one of the finest pots ever to complete one.”

Fellow analyst David Hendon added: “That is a shot he will remember for the rest of his life. Unbelievable. When he was clearing up, you couldn’t really envisage he would finish there.

“As we said, he was a bit too straight on the pink, tried to force the white around the angles. Didn’t really get close to the black. What nerve! My word! And what skill to knock it in.”

Chang was congratulated by Maguire in a show of sportsmanship but the Scot ended up having the last laugh, coming from behind to secure a narrow 6-5 victory in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Despite losing the match, Chang managed to earn himself a share of the £15,000 highest break prize with Pullen. If he makes another maximum in World Championship qualifying next year, he could pick up a whopping bonus of £147,000.

Luca Brecel also bowed out of UK Championship qualifying on Monday, with the former world champion slipping to a shock defeat at the hands of Ian Burns.

A late collapse saw the Belgian suffer a 6-3 loss after producing a highest break of 80 to level at three frames each. It marked another low point in his faltering career, which has taken a nosedive since he won the World Championship two years ago.

It wasn’t the only high-profile upset of the day, with Chris Wakelin being beaten by Mitchell Mann and Robert Milkins losing a last-frame decider to Daniel Wells on the final colours.