Ronnie O’Sullivan became the first player to compile 200 century breaks at the Crucible Theatre on Friday.
The Rocket made a break of 102 in the sixth frame of his World Championship second-round contest with Hossein Vafaei.
Only 41 players in the history of the game have constructed 200 century breaks in their careers on the professional main tour.
O’Sullivan’s extended his overall tally to 1,199 as he brought up the double-ton at the famous venue where he has captured seven world titles.
John Higgins is his closest rival at the Crucible with the Scot having managed an impressive 166 century breaks haul in Sheffield so far.
O’Sullivan’s fellow seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry is the only other player to reach three figures.
The Scot made 127 during his glittering career, although Mark Selby could reach the Crucible century of centuries landmark in 2023 if he makes three more during this year’s tournament.
O’Sullivan, meanwhile, established a commanding 6-2 advantage following the first session of his last-16 clash with Vafaei.
In what had been billed as a grudge match, the Englishman dominated the early exchanges to stamp his authority on the contest.
Vafaei had openly called out the world number one but failed to endear himself with a ludicrous pool-like break-off shot in the second frame.
Acknowledging a friend up in the audience, the Iranian evidently had got the “revenge” he had desired, in reference to when O’Sullivan did likewise to him during the German Masters qualifiers last season.
If the former world amateur champion had hoped to spook O’Sullivan, it failed miserably.
Although he produced an excellent contribution to take the last frame of the opening session, Vafaei has a mountain to climb against his more experienced and illustrious opponent.
Meanwhile, third seed Mark Allen has one foot and four toes in the quarter-finals after orchestrating a 12-4 lead over Stuart Bingham.
The Northern Irishman, a winner of three ranking titles including the UK Championship this term, needs just one more frame to reach the last eight for the fifth time.
Elsewhere, Luca Brecel leads Mark Williams 9-7 and Neil Robertson shared the first eight frames with qualifier Jak Jones.
For the full World Snooker Championship draw, results, live scores, and session times, click here.
Featured photo credit: WST
