KYREN WILSON punched the air as he nailed the 13th Crucible 147 – but viewers did not see it live on BBC TV.
The Warrior, 31, maintained his composure as he cleaned up the table in frame five of his first-round tie with Ryan Day on day five of the World Snooker Championship.
It was the fourth time he had ever compiled a maximum in his professional career.
And he is the ninth player to achieve that magical feat at this famous Sheffield theatre.
It was also the 188th witnessed in the sport since six-time world champion Steve Davis made history with the first official one in January 1982.
But the moment of brilliance by Wilson was not seen on BBC Two because TV bigwigs had already decided to end transmission at 11.15am for the Politics Live show.
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Though fans were directed to carry on watching the morning/afternoon session on the BBC Red Button, it was another big moment missed on terrestrial TV during this year’s event.
On the BBC Red Button, there was a pre-scheduled film between Stephen Hendry and Shaun Murphy talking about using the rest and this ran during the mid-session interval between Jack Lisowski and Noppon Saengkham.
On the website, there was the option to switch to the coverage on table two as Wilson was compiling the best break of his life.
The frame was later shown in its entirety on BBC Two when the coverage resumed at 1pm.
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The initial gaffe led fans to take to social media in their droves to complain.
One wrote: "So funny to see the #147 at World Championship snooker on Eurosport while the BBC chose to show some video of commentators explaining how to use the rest!! Really, the BBC are just SO bad at sports coverage!"
A second scathingly tweeted: "Just watched a 147 live on Eurosport, BBC are useless."
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Another added: "Was so lucky to see it, thanks to Eurosport though. The BBC for some reason decided to show some 'comic' pre-recorded video explaining how to use the rest instead of the live #147
Still, makes a change from them cutting games off to show gardening shows!"
BBC bosses came under fire from snooker supporters on the opening day when Ronnie O’Sullivan's first-round clash with Chinese debutant Pang Junxu was replaced at 9pm on the Saturday night for a subtitled Danish crime drama.
Wilson, who was defeated by O’Sullivan in the 2020 final, will receive a £55,000 bonus – £40,000 for the maximum and £10,000 for the highest-break of the 17-day tournament – but that will be shared if someone clears up before May 1.
Eurosport had been showing the match between Lisowski and Thailand's Noppon but that conveniently stopped for a mid-session break and controllers were able to switch over as No.7 seed Wilson was on 73.
When the 16th and final black was sunk, the crowd rose to their feet and Wilson shook the hands of the referee and opponent Day and then high-fived punters in the front-row seats as he went backstage.
Neil Robertson had hit two 146 breaks in his first-round win over Wu Yize -- Day did the same in qualifying -- but neither of those players will receive any extra cash by organisers now.
The Kettering cueist said: “Now that I’ve children, I’ve said for a long time I’d love to leave a legacy behind.
“I’d love to leave something for them to watch back when they have kids. And that’s going to be one of those moments.
“It’s definitely a bucket-list thing to try to do – to make a 147 at the crucible. There’s no pressure like it to be honest.
“Without a doubt, that was one of the best things I’ve ever done in my career. I got down for the pink and couldn’t feel my right arm. The black was perfect. Happy days.”
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A BBC spokesperson said: "We clearly signposted to audiences that they could continue watching the live coverage on the Red Button and BBC iPlayer.
"We covered the story on the BBC Sport Website, with the full break available to watch again."
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