Open Mike: The Thousand Centuries

["Open Mike" is the anything-goes, often off-topic Editorial page of TOP. It's supposed to appear on Wednesdays, but this has been an atypical week for me. That's my excuse. —Mike the Ed.]

Ronnie O'Sullivan, from his Facebook page. With eventual
champion Judd Trump back in the bokeh.

Just briefly—I know a lot of people don't care for cue sports, but I'm a lifelong pool buff and, lately, utterly besotted with the quirky put perfect English game of snooker. Snooker currently has a larger-than-life star whose brilliance, and the beauty of whose play, is vaulting the game to unforeseen heights. His name is Ronnie O'Sullivan. His closest rival in the history of the sport describes him as a "genius." He is aging, but his star is burning more brightly than ever. He is to his sport* what Pelé, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Aryton Senna and Serena Williams are, or were, to theirs.

Currently we're halfway through the Players Championship being played in Preston, Lancashire, England—and O'Sullivan is getting very close to an epic landmark, both for him personally and for snooker. His record of "centuries"—runs of 100 or more points in one turn at the table—stands at 997. (He made two more yesterday.) Three more and he will reach the fabled 1,000 mark, which through most of the game's history has been thought impossible.

To score in snooker you must pocket a red ball first, which earns you one point and the right to pocket a colored ball. Those score between two and seven points depending on the color and their position on the table. Red balls stay down, but colored balls are re-spotted until the end of the game. Here's a brief video that explains the rules and basic strategy of snooker.

A "perfect game" in snooker is a 147. O'Sullivan leads history in 147s in match play with 15. The player in second place, the great Scotsman Stephen Hendry, who was once considered unsurpassable as the greatest player in history, is second with 11. To win a frame (which happens when one player gets comfortably more points than are left on the table, usually around 65–75 points) and then continues playing such that he scores 100 points in one turn at the table—that's a century. They used to be quite rare, but in this era of full-time touring professionals they're getting more common. Stephen Hendry had 775 centuries when he retired at age 43 in 2012, still the second-highest total ever. Australian Neil Robertson is the only player ever to make 100 centuries in one year—he made 103 in the 2013–14 season.

O'Sullivan ended the 2017–18 season with 948, and talk was rife that he would inevitably break 1,000. He's on the doorstep now. To see any of the recent ones, about all you have to do is Google "Ronnie O'Sullivan 9xx." A video of Ronnie scoring that particular century will pop up. I've watched a number of them twice.

Can anyone ever break such a record? It's certainly possible—Ronnie has taken breaks from competition in his career, and currently plays in only a selected few tournaments every year. Someone nearly as good as he is with an appetite for play more like Stuart Bingham's could conceivably surpass him. Someday.

Ronnie got me into snooker, but I doubt he'll get me out of it (attendance at NBA games actually dropped after Jordan retired). It's a magical game, as exact and as perfectly in balance as baseball, and great fun to watch. No frame is ever quite the same. It's just a special thing to be a snooker fan at this moment in time, the autumn of O'Sullivan's scintillating, mercurial career, during which all the records he will end up setting will be set. Those of us who play cue sports know how insanely hard it is to do what he does—to watch him in full flow is to be amazed. Even standout stars like Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis admit there's never been anyone quite like him.

Other sports fans more often remember big moments in team sports. Fair enough. But for me, the day Ronnie hits a thousand will be a day to never forget.

Mike

*People who think cue sports are not "sport" are all wet—snooker requires two-thirds the intellectual power of chess, half as much concentration as driving racing cars, nearly as much physical skill as golf, and as much constant practice and fortitude under pressure as any sport you can name. It demands hand-eye coordination, steadiness, great touch, and sometimes an almost ungodly precision. All that's missing is the brute physical effort component that some Americans wrongly believe to be a component of the definition of the word. If archery, the shot-put, high-diving, weightlifting, and bowling are sports, then snooker surely is.

ADDENDUM: For further reading, here's the now three-year-old New Yorker profile of Ronnie.

Original contents copyright 2019 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

Would you help?

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Rodolofo Canet: "O'Sullivan not only takes breaks and plays only selected tournaments. He's been able to fail on purpose a very easy maximum break of 147 complaining they're paid too low in tournaments! Please remind that only 147 147s have been scored in the history of the sport. He was expected to refuse scoring more centuries in the current tournament just to synchronize his thousand with the World Championship. He used to play very, very fast, and because of that is nicknamed "the Rocket." He can play with both hands. In fact, at the beginning of his career, a rival complained of his changing hands for a difficult shot, claiming disrespect. He replied that he could play better with his left than his rival could with his natural hand. The complaint reached the high organizers of snooker and he was made to demonstrate his skills to avoid a penalty. He's the closest thing to a true genius you can find in today's sport. And I used to be a loyal Hendry fan!"

Greg Heins: "O'Sullivan was born in Ilford, so doesn't that make this a photo story?"

Mike replies: Yes! Yes, it does!

Comments

[Andrew]

You said "Those of us who play cue sports know how insanely hard it is to do what he does", but I suspect a lot of pool players still underestimate it! I play pool on a 6' table most weekdays (I have the luxury of a table in the office I work in) and have played snooker 5 - 10 times and the gulf between the two is, IMO, enormous! The sheer size of the snooker table is the obvious difference - the first time I played on one it seemed more like a football (sorry, soccer) pitch than a pool table. Add to that the more subtle break-off shot leaving most of the reds clustered tightly together, rather than spread across the table as the balls are in pool, and getting a break of more than 4 balls is a rarity for me.

[Robert Roaldi]

Every time I've tried playing pool or snooker (haven't in over 30 years), it was always the same pattern. In the first 10-15 minutes I'd sink some shots that I didn't think were possible and being to feel confident. Then I'd spend the next hour or two missing everything, slowly getting more and more frustrated till I had to quit.

[Steve Higgins]

"A "perfect game" in snooker is a 147. "

A 'super-perfect' game would be 154.

It entails one player making a foul right at the beginning, the ref awarding the other player a free ball, which counts as a red, then the player pots a black, followed by the normal 147.

I don't think it's ever happened, but it is theoretically possible...

[Speed]

How great it is to be an editor with the freedom to make interesting assignments and a writer who gets all the best ones.

[c.d.embrey]

Did the French army at Agincourt think they we’re competing in a sporting match? 8-)

[Richard S.]

Mike, if Ronnie got you into snooker you may also want to investigate the life and career of Alex "Hurricane" Higgins, he may also appeal to you.

[Richard S.]

@Andrew, completely agree re snooker vs pool but also consider that tournament snooker tables are far far more difficult than ordinary snooker tables as found in snooker halls - not only in speed but in that the pockets are far more recessed. It makes the pro's achievements even more incredible.

[Tom Bell]

I know that Lotus are not as reliable as Mercedes ...and of course Ronnie is unsurpassable ...but some of us still miss Jimmy White!

The nearest thing to a Lotus that ever played on the green bais.

[Edward P Richards]

Do I remember correctly - it has been since college decades ago that I played snooker - that the pockets are narrower than on a pool table? Or maybe that was just the table at Rice.:-) But it demanded a more sure touch then pool to get the ball in.

[John Krill]

Just briefly? Really? ;)

[Rok Rover]

I can relate to your passion for snooker, having whiled away hours playing the game at University instead if studying. Pool never appealed as much, but Minnesota Fats in “The Hustler” impressed me with his scripted gamesmanship. Surely Ronnie’s natural talent would elevate him above resorting to such tactics. His mere presence at the table conveys sufficient psychological advantage.

I shall end with the heresy here in the States that cricket rivals baseball as a sublime team sport. You must forgive my natural bias as a former British colonial subject.

[David Saxe]

Played snooker a lot when I was growing up in Montreal. The place was called "Leader's" on St. Catherine Street and it was on the floor above a car dealership When you walked in, there was a rack on the left with players personal pool cues and seasonal rentals. (you could rent your favorite cue for a year for $5.00) Next to it was a photograph from the early '50s of local player Leo Levitt shooting a perfect score of 147. There were 36 tables and a row of windows looking out to the street below. It reminded me of the pool halls in "The Hustler". I loved that place and I loved snooker. Too bad they don't play it in the US.

[Daniel]

Considering their touch, balance and coordination, why aren't more women beating the men?

[Jeff]

More reason for your admiration - He wrote a crime novel.

[Martin Doonan]

For those who maybe don't wish to spend the time watching a typical century break, it's worth googling "Ronnie O'Sullivan fastest 147". Shows all the aforementioned attributes in a neat 5:20 package.