Five of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s best centuries
Snooker’s great showman is closing in on 1,000 competitive 100.
Over 30 years after rattling in his first century break at the age of 10, Ronnie O’Sullivan stands on the brink of registering his 1,000th competitive ton.
O’Sullivan will head into his first round match against Luke Simmonds at the UK Championships in York next week just 22 short of the momentous milestone.
He may be best known for his quickfire maximum breaks, but the 42-year-old has scored a number of other memorable three-figure breaks. Here Press Association Sport picks out five of the best of them:
147 v MICK PRICE, 1997 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Regarded as probably the greatest break in the sport’s history, O’Sullivan rattled in a Crucible maximum in a record-breaking five minutes and 20 seconds in his first round match against the outclassed Price. None – even the ‘Rocket’ himself – have come close to eclipsing it.
113 v NEIL ROBERTSON, 2007 PREMIER LEAGUE
141 v ALI CARTER, 2012 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
103 v BARRY HAWKINS, 2013 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
146 v BARRY PINCHES, 2016 WELSH OPEN
After potting 14 reds and 13 blacks, O’Sullivan deliberately gave up his shot at a maximum break by drifting up for the pink instead. Afterwards he called the £10,000 on offer “too cheap” for a 147. Snooker chief Barry Hearn responded furiously, calling O’Sullivan’s display “unacceptable” and “disrespectful”.
