Aditya Mehta notches record-breaking feat again

BANGALORE: A year after emulating Geet Sethi's 25-year record of the first-ever maximum (147) break in snooker by an Indian, Aditya Mehta has done it again. He achieved the feat this time against top pro Stephen Maguire at the Arcaden Paul Hunter Classic in Germany on Friday night.
"It's an amazing feeling," Aditya, the country's poster boy in snooker, told TOI over phone from Germany. "It's my first maximum on the pro tour, so it's a different feeling altogether," added the Mumbaikar, who had emulated Sethi's feat during the selection camp tournament at the KSBA here last year.
The 28-year-old's sizzling effort was also the first 147 on the professional tour this season and the 106th in snooker history. Ronnie O'Sullivan had the distinction of making the previous 147 at the Welsh Open in March.
Although Aditya lost his match 2-4, he will win £1,500 from the rolling 147 prize pot for European Tour events if the break is not equalled.
"It's the biggest stage and it came against a top player. I feel over the moon and it's a dream come true," added the Indian ace, who emerged runner-up at the inaugural Indian Open world-ranking snooker tournament in New Delhi last October. "I hope one day I would be lucky enough to make one in a pro event," Aditya had said last year.
The 147 break did not come easily though.
The reds were scattered pretty well and only when Aditya reached 88 that he encountered a tough shot, a plant. "After that it was textbook effort. I didn't imagine it (second maximum) would come so soon. But you never know with maximums, it just happens," the Mumbai ace said.
Aditya, who made the 147 after being 0-2 down, followed that up with an 80 in the fourth frame, but Maguire raised his level to keep the Indian at bay. However, the Indian was not too concerned about his loss.
"It's ok, I played my best and that was not good enough against a great player." Aditya will hope to carry this confidence into the Indian Open qualifiers next month and ensure that he plays in front of his home crowd in the second edition of the Open in Mumbai from October 13-17.