Tom Ford made the fourth maximum break of his career in the last frame of a 6-1 win over Fraser Patrick at the International Championship qualifiers in Sheffield.

Leicester’s 35-year-old Ford becomes one of only ten players to make four or more official 147s.

A new bonus system means that if there are 20 or more maximum breaks during the 2019/20 season, then the players who make those 147s will share a total of £1 million. Ford’s is the first.

World number 27 Ford is also in line to win the £6,000 high break prize for the International Championship, as long as the 147 is not equalled.

He made his first maximum at the 2007 Grand Prix in a match against Steve Davis, having discharged himself from the hospital on the same morning after suffering from gastroenteritis. Ford also made 147s at the 2012 Bulgarian Open and 2017 German Masters.

In today’s match against Patrick, he also made breaks of 94, 56, 53 and 61 as he booked a slot in the final stages in China in August.

Most career 147s
Ronnie O’Sullivan 15
Stephen Hendry 11
John Higgins 9 
Ding Junhui 6 
Shaun Murphy 5 
Stuart Bingham 5 
Marco Fu 4 
Judd Trump 4 
Neil Robertson 4
Tom Ford 4

Source: World Snooker