Neil Robertson joins the Crucible’s 147 club but bows out to Jack Lisowski

Neil Robertson racked up a maximum break but still crashed out of the World Championship in a final frame defeat to Jack Lisowski.

The pre-tournament favourite achieved the 12th 147 in Crucible history in the 19th frame of the match but it was not enough to prevent his shock 13-12 loss to the tournament’s 14th seed.

Lisowski described his win as “the best of my career” and added: “I gave that everything I had, and to beat the best player in the world who is playing some of the best snooker we’ve ever seen, it just feels like a massive achievement.

“I held it together well out there. There’s a lot of pressure and I kept my cool really well. I missed a few balls but I made a great clearance to take it into a decider, and I finished it off well in the end.”

Lisowski, rated the best current player not to win a ranking event by many, had exceeded expectations by carving out a 9-7 overnight advantage and when he took a scrappy opener to extend his lead to three frames, a major upset looked on the cards.

But the 30-year-old was frequently let down by careless shot choice, and a poor safety in the next let in Robertson to clear the colours and narrow the deficit to two frames.

Robertson followed his 147 with back-to-back breaks of 79 and 60 to take the lead, but when it seemed the momentum had shifted, Lisowski responded again with an 88 to haul an intriguing match back all-square at 11-11.

A shocking missed green in the next again appeared to spell Lisowski’s demise, as Robertson took the frame and established a potentially match-winning lead in the next – only for Lisowski to respond with a stunning 72 to pink to force the decider.

As nerves took centre-stage, both players missed fine opportunities to build a lead but a