ON THIS DAY - 1997: O’Sullivan rattles in fastest maximum

SNOOKER - Oh, how fitting that the 2012 World Snooker Championship should start precisely 15 years after Ronnie O’Sullivan showed us all how the game should be played. He shoots a 147 maximum in 5 minutes and 20 seconds (averaging 8.8 seconds per shot), only two seconds shorter than it took Dave Brubeck’s jazz ensemble to produce the classic ‘Take Five’.