Ronnie O’Sullivan and His Century Breaks

The mark of the highest skill of a snooker player is the ability to score a century break.

In snooker, English billiards and in other British usages, a century or century break is the scoring of 100 points or more, potting at least 26 consecutive balls from the break off until clearing the table in a frame.

English professional snooker and pool player Ronald Antonio O’Sullivan, OBE (born December 5, 1975), has described a player’s first career century as the “ultimate milestone for any snooker player“.

Ronnie O’Sullivan at Snooker German Masters 2015 in Berlin (Photo: DerHexer)

Ronnie O’Sullivan, widely considered as one of the greatest players in the sport’s history is known for his rapid playing style. Due to his mercurial temperament and ambivalent relationship with the sport, Ronnie O’Sullivan has taken prolonged period of leave and has repeatedly threatened to retire from the sport.

O’Sullivan’s achievements in snooker began at an early age. As a child snooker prodigy, he made his first century break at age 10, and his first maximum break at age 15.

In 1992, at the age of 16, O’Sullivan turned professional and because of his rapid playing style earned the nickname “The Rocket“.

O’Sullivan’s achieved his first major professional success by winning the 1993 UK Championship at the age of 17 years and 358 days, making him the youngest player ever to win a ranking title – a record he still holds.

He is also the youngest player to have won his first title in 1995 at the age of 19 years and 69 days.

Over 20,000 century breaks have been recorded by snooker players in professional tournaments.

A century of centuries is the achievement of 100 or more century breaks in a career, a feat few players have achieved to date. Only Neil Robertson has achieved one hundred 100s in a single season, during 2013/2014.

The following players are reported to have passed 100 breaks and at least the given threshold (in 50 break increments) above this, and Ronnie O’Sullivan tops the list with 850.

over-100-century-breaaks

The Triple Crown is a collective term used for the three most prestigious major snooker tournaments: the UK Championship, the Masters, and the World Championship. In Triple Crown events, O’Sullivan’s has a record of five UK Championship titles, a record seven Masters titles, and five World Championship titles.

Stephen Hendry has a record of 36 ranking titles. O’Sullivan’s career total of 28 ranking titles puts him in joint second place with Steve Davis and John Higgins and in snooker’s all-time prize-money list, his career earnings of over £8 million put him in second place after Hendry.

As a prolific break-builder, O’Sullivan holds the record for the most competitive career century breaks with 863. He also holds the record for the 13 maximum breaks, the most ratified in professional competition, and for the three fastest competitive maximum breaks, the quickest of which he played in 5 minutes and 20 seconds at the 1997 World Championship.