Ronnie O’Sullivan brings up 1,000 centuries to enhance his legacy as snooker’s ‘greatest ever’

Hopefully it is a long way off yet, but when Ronnie O’Sullivan eventually retires and the sporting world reflects on his career, perhaps the most revealing record in his collection will be his number of 147 breaks, and the asterisk next to it. Currently he resides way out on his own with a quite ridiculous 15 career maximums (only three players in history have made more than six), and yet in brackets beside his tally it should read: ‘Would have 16, but deliberately scored 146 against Barry Pinches in the 2016 Welsh Open to make a point about prize money.’

That 146 was a break which combined O’Sullivan’s two defining characteristics – mesmerising talent and a rebellious streak – and both were on show again on Sunday night as O’Sullivan won the Players Championship in Preston, scoring his 1,000th century break in the process. As he set for the history-making shot, he grinned to the rapt crowd before switching to his left hand, and in that moment it was hard to imagine someone with this mastery of his game not adding a sixth and even seventh world title to his tally.

O’Sullivan played some of his most exhilarating, untouchable snooker beating Neil Robertson 10-4 in the final, unerringly picking off long pots that other top-16 players would consider 50-50, before building immaculate frame-winning breaks.

“Sometimes you watch Ronnie play in finals and you wonder ‘What could I have done if I was in that situation?’,” said Robertson afterwards, “and sometimes you think ‘Well not a great deal’. Unfortunately that’s what I ran into today. He probably plays a final like that once every two or three years and I think against just about any other player in the world he probably would have beaten them 10-1, so I did really well to stay in there. It was three mistakes I made and that was it, I lost 10 frames. He won five or six frames where there wasn’t anything I could do about it.”

The question that will accompany O’Sullivan through the autumn of his career is weather he is the greatest player ever to hold a snooker cue, or merely one of the greats. Greatness is a subjective measure, of course, and for some he will never be the true king until he outnumbers Stephen Hendry’s seven appearances on the wall of champions at the Crucible. Yet for many more, including many of his peers, he has already answered.

“Ronnie O’Sullivan is the greatest ever!!!!,” tweeted former world No8 Joe Perry on Sunday night. “Doubt there will ever be anyone better! #1000.” The 2002 world champion, Peter Ebdon, wrote: “What an achievement and what a very special gift Ronnie O’Sullivan is for Snooker. Quite rightly adored my millions, he continues to improve and to raise the bar. Unbelievably brilliant, truly great and as close to perfection as possible.”

For Robertson, on the end of one of O’Sullivan’s most unstoppable performances in years, there was no doubt. “I’m delighted for him, he’s a wonderful champion, and definitely the greatest ever player.”

O’Sullivan is now the favourite ahead of next month’s World Snooker Championship. Robertson will be amongst frontrunners, along with world No1 Mark Selby and Judd Trump, who at the age of 29 is already nearing 600 centuries, and is on track to break O’Sullivan’s tally one day. Yet just what that tally will be is anyone’s guess. There is no sign of the Rocket stopping just yet.