One of the subplots of this week’s English Open sees John Higgins and Judd Trump vie to reach the 1,000 career century breaks milestone.
It’s not a question of if the pair will eclipse the incredible tally but when, with Higgins stuck on 998 tons and Trump just one behind on 997.
Ronnie O’Sullivan is the only player to have ever surpassed 1,000 tons, the Rocket reaching the target back in 2019.
O’Sullivan, who is way out in front on the all-time list with 1,272, memorably compiled his thousandth century break at the 2019 Players Championship.
The Englishman made a break of 134 in the final frame of the final to beat Neil Robertson in Preston.
Now, Higgins and Trump will attempt to join him on the 1,000 mark when they compete at the English Open in Brentwood in the coming days.
At the start of the 2024/25 season, it had appeared a certainty that the former would be the next to gain the honour of recording the feat.
Higgins needed only five century breaks at the beginning of the summer but, failing to reach the latter rounds of tournaments, has only been able to add three to his tally.
The 49 year-old’s form has been so indifferent that he’s just about clinging onto his membership among the world’s top 16.
Trump, by contrast, had commenced the campaign 15 tons behind the Scot but has drawn within just one after a scintillating spell of form.
The 35 year-old has contributed 17 century breaks this term while romping to victories at the Shanghai Masters and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
Those triumphs came either side of his run to the final of the Xi’an Grand Prix, with these results helping him return to the world number one position in the rankings.
In the 2024 English Open, Higgins will face Andrew Higginson in the last 64 but must wait until Tuesday evening to enter the fray in the competition.
Trump will have first crack then when he encounters Liu Hongyu on Monday afternoon, albeit it is unlikely that he’d compile the required three tons in a best-of-seven fixture.
If both players can reach even the middle rounds of the tournament, they will expect to compile the tons needed to reach 1,000.
There are no prizes on offer for this mini race, but it will be intriguing to see who can grab the headlines first regardless.
All-time century breaks
(Sept 15th, 2024)
1. Ronnie O’Sullivan: 1,272
2. John Higgins: 998
3. Judd Trump: 997
4. Neil Robertson: 947
5. Mark Selby: 833
6. Stephen Hendry: 777
7. Shaun Murphy: 670
8. Ding Junhui: 665
9. Mark Williams: 645
10. Mark Allen: 627
Robertson, meanwhile, is in fourth on the all-time list with 947 century breaks and would fancy his chances of reaching the 1,000 mark this season if he has a nice run of form.
Two-time English Open champion Mark Selby is in fifth with 833 tons, ahead of the original century king Stephen Hendry with 777.
The main stages of the English Open run from Monday to Sunday (Sept 16-22) at the Brentwood Leisure Centure, with Trump the defending champion.
The likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Kyren Wilson, Mark Allen, Shaun Murphy, and Mark Williams will be hoping to challenge for the Steve Davis Trophy as well.
Live coverage in the UK and Ireland will be available on Eurosport, discovery+, and Freeview channel DMAX.
2024 English Open draw
Round of 64
Matches to be played on Monday, September 16th and Tuesday, September 17th
Judd Trump vs Liu Hongyu
Matthew Selt vs Ricky Walden/Mink Nutcharut
Ryan Day vs Fan Zhengyi
Robert Milkins vs Oliver Lines
Stuart Bingham vs Wu Yize
Ali Carter vs Ian Burns
Noppon Saengkham vs Zak Surety
Mark Williams vs Ben Woollaston
Mark Selby vs Aaron Hill
Joe O’Connor vs Artemijs Zizins
Tom Ford vs Jiang Jun
Si Jiahui vs Andrew Pagett
Hossein Vafaei vs Matthew Stevens
Jak Jones vs Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Stephen Maguire vs Yuan Sijun/Bulcsú Révész
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs He Guoqiang
Mark Allen vs Long Zehuang
Lyu Haotian vs Dominic Dale/Liam Davies
John Higgins vs Andrew Higginson
David Gilbert vs Michael Holt
Chris Wakelin vs Joe Perry
Zhang Anda vs Mark Davis
Pang Junxu vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Luca Brecel vs Anthony Hamilton
Shaun Murphy vs Jamie Clarke
Neil Robertson vs Jackson Page
Gary Wilson vs Ross Muir
Zhou Yuelong vs Jamie Jones
Jack Lisowski vs Xu Si
Barry Hawkins vs J. Robertson
Anthony McGill vs Xiao Guodong/Mitchell Mann
Kyren Wilson vs David Grace
Featured photo credit: WST
Only have Freeview. Where can I watch.
On a channel called DMAX. The coverage will be on air 1pm every afternoon and then evening coverage of the second semi-final and the final’s last session.
John Higgins creeping to the finishing line. I wonder if this professional target has been a feature in his decision to not retire after last season? This and the earnings starting to be available again after the dislocations to global growth from the COVID 19 pandemic. It would represent a cumulative career achievement.
Judd Trump looks to be fully into his pomp now: every record attainable but he surely has the glaring issue of his world championship record to rectify.
I don’t see him passing O’Sullivan/Hendry for world titles or O’Sullivan for triple crown titles. He could eventually be top of the list for ranking titles and centuries.
Yeah, agreed; in terms of the big records that looks a likely outcome to me, he would have to go some to rectify his slower accumulation rate for the worlds and triple crowns.