Ronnie O'Sullivan signs off with 147 break as he storms past Matthew Selt to reach UK Championship quarter-final

• O'Sullivan beat Matthew Selt 6-0 in fourth round of UK Championship
• The 38-year-old finished the match by hitting a break of 147
• It was the 13th maximum of O'Sullivan's career, bettering his own record 
• Marco Fu defeated Shaun Murphy 6-5 in a thrilling encounter 

By Pa Reporter

Published: 16:48 EST, 4 December 2014 | Updated: 04:21 EST, 5 December 2014

Ronnie O’Sullivan finished off with a brilliant 147 break as he stormed into the quarter-finals of the Coral UK Championship with a 6-0 demolition of Matthew Selt.

O’Sullivan’s maximum at the end of the fourth-round clash at York’s Barbican Centre was the 109th in snooker history and the 13th of the Englishman’s career - improving his own all-time record.

The 38-year-old, who had a scare when the final blue wobbled in the jaws of the middle pocket before dropping, is set to earn £44,000 for the break, which is the first of the tournament.

Ronnie O'Sullivan punches the air in celebration after finishing the match with a break of 147

O'Sullivan beat Mattew Selt 6-0 in the fourth round of the Coral UK Championship

O'Sullivan celebrates after making a maximum break of 147, earning him £44,000

Making the achievement even more remarkable is that the five-time world champion is playing on a broken left ankle, sustained while out running in Essex last week.

Such was the pain of the injury that O'Sullivan suggested after his first-round victory he might have to withdraw from the tournament if there was no improvement.

However, O'Sullivan played through the pain and on Thursday rewarded the watching public - and even fellow players Stephen Maguire and David Morris who briefly stopped their fourth-round encounter on the neighbouring table to follow the action - to another potting masterclass.

O'Sullivan, who rattled in four half-century breaks as well as his maximum as he swept aside Selt, will play Anthony McGill for a place in the semi-finals as he continues his hunt for a fifth UK Championship crown, and first since 2007. 

It was the 13th maximum of O'Sullivan's career as he extended his own personal all-time record

Matthew Selt was well and truly outclassed as he failed to win a single frame against O'Sullivan

Marco Fu and Shaun Murphy served up another dramatic encounter at the UK Championship before the Hong Kong potter sealed his place in the quarter-finals with a 6-5 win.

Murphy beat Fu 10-9 in a tense 2008 final and the pair went the distance again on Thursday, with the match being decided on the final black.

The Englishman had looked on course to seal a place in the last eight when he built a 5-3 lead - helped by a superb 137 in the fifth frame - but Fu battled back to level things up at 5-5.

Murphy again seemed to have the edge in the final frame but, after compiling a break of 54, he snookered himself on the final yellow and Fu did not let his opportunity slip, the 36-year-old potting all the colours to take the decider 74-62.

Marco Fu beat Shaun Murphy 6-5 in a thrilling encounter at the Barbican Centre in York

Murphy managed to open up a 5-3 lead against his opponent before losing the next three frames

Judd Trump, the 2011 champion, also took his place in the last eight during Thursday’s afternoon session after overcoming veteran Rod Lawler 6-3.

The Bristolian started off with a 102 break in the opener but then lost the next two frames as the world number 66 briefly gave his 25-year-old opponent a scare.

However, Trump responded by winning five of the next six frames after that, sealing the win with another century - 112 - in the ninth to set up a quarter-final clash with Mark Davis.

O'Sullivan targets Hendry's world snooker title haul (archive)

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