Belgian snooker star Luca Brecel has emphatically weighed in on a long-running sports debate, declaring that a maximum 147 break in snooker is vastly more difficult than a nine-darter in darts. "100,000 percent a 147," stated Brecel, the 2023 snooker world champion, in an interview with Sportnieuws.nl. He is a self-professed darts enthusiast, revealing his passion for the sport is "even bigger than snooker" and that he watches everything and plays almost daily.
Brecel explained his reasoning by comparing the two feats. A 147 requires a player to pot all fifteen reds, each followed by the black, and then all the colours in order—a sequence of 36 perfect shots where cue ball positioning is crucial. Ronnie O'Sullivan holds the record for the fastest competitive maximum, set in 1997 at 5 minutes and 8 seconds. In contrast, a nine-darter involves checking out 501 in just nine darts, demanding consistent treble hits and a flawless finish.
"In darts you can be done in nine darts, but in snooker you have to stay error-free for much longer. That makes it mentally tougher," Brecel said. He acknowledged the immense pressure of performing a nine-darter on stage but emphasized that snooker demands sustaining that pressure over a longer period. Brecel, who averages around 70 to 75 with his first nine darts as an amateur, noted that nine-darters have become more common than maximum breaks in recent years, attributing this to darts' growth and professionalisation.
The core of Brecel's argument lies in the duration and complexity. A snooker maximum involves a long sequence of decisions and technical actions without error, with no table situation being the same, requiring improvisation and forward thinking. While both achievements represent elite perfection, Brecel and experts cited in the source conclude the 147 break demands more steps, more variables, and a longer stretch of perfection, making it the tougher task.
