DREW Henry's golden chance of a 147 maximum break was floored by a knuckleduster as the second day's play in the PowerHouse UK Snooker Championship produced more upsets in last night's marathon session.
The world No 22, from Rutherglen, Scotland, was on 134 with pink near the middle pocket and black on its spot. But his shot on the pink in the 12th frame hit the knuckle of the pocket and bounced out.
It would have been his first 147 in any tournament in his 11 years as a professional and he saw the £5,000 prize for a maximum in this stage of the championship disappear. He also missed out on the £1,800 highest break prize.
And in the very next frame Henry's first round opponent, qualifier Stuart Bingham, the world No 57, from Basildon, missed his chance to make the championship's biggest break so far.
He missed black which would have given him a 144 break, overtaking the 141 top break by Matthew Crouch in a qualifying round in September. Bingham had to be satisfied with a 137.
Henry's consolation was winning 9-7 to take him through to a second round match with Jimmy White starting tomorrow afternoon.
"I realised quite early in the frame I was on for a maximum," Henry said afterwards. "I felt fine all the way through the break and I was fine when I got down to play the pink. I would normally expect to have potted that shot but with a maximum in prospect there's more pressure.
"That's the closest I have ever been to a 147," he rued
Bingham said of his missed black that he felt a slight kick when he played the shot.
Robert Milkins, the world No 33, from Gloucester, came from 7-2 down to beat 1995 Embassy World Championship finalist Nigel Bond 9-8.
Milkins, who made a 129 break in frame 13, said his match performance was the best of his career.
He credited Bond with having played as well as Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first session but the turning point came in the tenth frame when he made the most of a mistake by Bond to fire in a winning 80 break.
Then in the last frame he was given a lifeline when Bond had shot ahead with a 43 break but missed a red and let Milkins in for a 45 break and went on to clinch victory.
It was 11.35pm when the last match of the day and the second upset took place as 19-year-old Mark Selby, the world No 53, from Leicester, beat world No 17 Anthony Hamilton 9-8 on a re-spotted black.
The marathon duel lasted seven hours 12 minutes, the 13th frame taking over 52 minutes because of a re-rack.
Updated: 12:46 Tuesday, December 03, 2002
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