Chris Wakelin’s giant killing of eighth seed Mark Allen had already captured attention, but it was a single audacious pot that etched his name into Crucible folklore.
Facing a tricky safety on the yellow late in frame 12, Wakelin elected to attempt a razor thin cut to the middle pocket. The ball hugged the rail, kissed the middle jaw and dropped, prompting an audible gasp across the arena.
Commentating for the BBC, seven time champion Stephen Hendry declared it “one of the best shots I have ever seen”, adding that he could not remember executing anything similar under such pressure.
The pot capped a run of seven straight frames for the former Shoot Out winner, who turned a 4-6 deficit into a commanding 11-6 lead. He closed out the match 13-6, booking a maiden quarter final.
Afterward, Wakelin admitted that adrenaline overrode caution. “If I miss, I probably lose the frame,” he said. “But at the Crucible you have to back your instinct.”
Social media lit up with slow motion replays, and the clip amassed more than 2 million views on X within 12 hours. Even Allen, still digesting his maximum, labelled the shot “filthy” in the best possible sense.
Pundits now view Wakelin as the tournament’s dark horse, noting that his break building has caught up with a safety game already regarded as elite.
Whether he can replicate that yellow under heavier knockout pressure remains to be seen, but the pot has already secured a place in championship legend.
