Ronnie O'Sullivan reaches 1,000 career centuries and wins Players Championship
- From the section Snooker
Ronnie O'Sullivan became the first man to reach 1,000 career centuries as he sealed a 10-4 win over Neil Robertson in the Players Championship final.
The five-time world champion went into the match needing three more centuries to reach four figures.
He made two in taking a 7-2 lead at the end of the first session in Preston and achieved the landmark with a 134 to retain his title.
Stephen Hendry (775) and John Higgins (745) are the only others to pass 700.
| Most career centuries |
|---|
| 1,000 Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) |
| 775 Stephen Hendry (Sco) |
| 745 John Higgins (Sco) |
| 621 Neil Robertson (Aus) |
O'Sullivan, 43, was in masterful control from the moment Robertson went in, after potting the blue in the early stages of the opening frame.
He was not even disrupted by twice having to tell referee Terry Camilleri that the black had been placed back on its spot incorrectly in frame two.
Robertson scored only 35 points in the four frames before the mid-session interval, with a highest break of 25.
In his 50th career final, O'Sullivan looked set to make it 5-0 when on a 50 break, only to miss a red into the centre, banging the table in frustration. A 65 helped Robertson to chalk up his first frame.
But O'Sullivan swiftly took the next with a magnificent 116, his 50th century of the season, while in frame seven a three-ball plant led to a 56 and a 6-1 advantage.
Robertson made a 78 to win frame eight, the only one of the session in which O'Sullivan did not make a 50 or more, but the Rocket moved to within one of the landmark with a superb 105.
When the match resumed in the evening session, Robertson made a 120 total clearance with his 63rd century of the season in the opening frame.
Having made a 90, which ended with a difficult missed red along the cushion with the rest, O'Sullivan fittingly coincided the landmark with the end of the match.
As he went to pot the red to reach the milestone, he paused - then calmly switched to play left-handed and stroked it into the centre of the pocket, making a total clearance of 141, only for the cue ball to trickle into the middle pocket and deny him one prize at least: for the highest break.
The Preston Guild Hall crowd was in raptures to witness history. It was O'Sullivan's 35th title - his first came at the same venue in 1993.
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