Kyren Wilson reached a career milestone by compiling his 500th century break in a 4-3 defeat of Marco Fu in the Welsh Open on Tuesday.
The world champion has been in fine form recently, reaching the final of all three tournaments he has participated in during 2025 so far.
Wilson didn’t have it all his own way against veteran Fu but managed to emerge with a deciding-frame victory to prolong his hopes of securing a fourth ranking title of the campaign.
The Kettering cueist led 3-1 only to watch his opponent force his way back into contention, but Wilson coolly completed the job in the seventh frame with a break of 103.
That century contribution took his competitive tally to 500, becoming only the 14th player in snooker history to record the feat.
Still relatively young for a snooker competitor at 33, Wilson is likely to continue moving up the order of the all-time list.
Ronnie O’Sullivan, who withdrew from the Welsh Open on Tuesday hours before his scheduled clash with Jamie Clarke, remains in top spot with almost 1,300 century breaks.
The Rocket is being quickly reeled in by Judd Trump, however, with the world number one making 74 tons this season alone to take him to within 250 of O’Sullivan’s total.
John Higgins is the only other player to have surpassed the 1,000 centuries milestone, although Neil Robertson could join that exclusive club by the end of the current campaign.
Mark Selby completes the top five ahead of Stephen Hendry, Shaun Murphy, Ding Junhui, Mark Williams, and Mark Allen.
Stuart Bingham, Marco Fu, and Stephen Maguire are the others who have managed to score more than 500 century breaks across their respective careers.
All-time century breaks list
(accurate as of February 11th, 2025)
1. Ronnie O’Sullivan – 1,282
2. Judd Trump – 1,054
3. John Higgins – 1,014
4. Neil Robertson – 974
5. Mark Selby – 873
6. Stephen Hendry – 777
7. Shaun Murphy – 699
8. Ding Junhui – 685
9. Mark Williams – 659
10. Mark Allen – 656
11. Stuart Bingham – 607
12. Marco Fu – 535
13. Stephen Maguire – 526
14. Kyren Wilson – 500
15. Barry Hawkins – 486
Source: SnookerInfo
Wilson, meanwhile, will look to continue his bid to claim a maiden Welsh Open crown when he faces Joe O’Connor in the last 32 on Wednesday.
There are plenty of high-profile contenders still in the running for the £100,000 top prize and the Ray Reardon Trophy at the Venue Cymru.
January’s Masters champion Shaun Murphy was a notable casualty on Tuesday, with the Magician exiting in a deciding frame against Ma Hailong.
But the likes of Mark Selby, Mark Allen, and home favourite Mark Williams will look to extend their stays when they face Elliot Slessor, Yuan Sijun, and Stephen Maguire respectively.
Record five-time champion John Higgins takes on 2023 winner Robert Milkins, while Luca Brecel has an important outing against Noppon Saengkham.
The Belgian Bullet needs to reach the final this week if he is to break into the top 32 on the one-year ranking list and secure qualification for the upcoming World Grand Prix.
Two-time former Welsh Open winner Neil Robertson is in the hunt for glory as well, with the Australian still on course to pocket the £150,000 Home Nations bonus as the best performer across the four events on the series.
2025 Welsh Open
Wednesday’s order of play
10am UTC
Ishpreet Singh Chadha vs Jackson Page
Robert Milkins vs John Higgins
1pm UTC
Tom Ford vs Neil Robertson
Pang Junxu vs Zhang Anda
Wu Yize vs Sanderson Lam
Stephen Maguire vs Mark Williams
Following 1pm games
Jamie Jones vs Robbie Williams
Yuan Sijun vs Mark Allen
Jamie Clarke vs Matthew Selt
David Gilbert vs Matthew Stevens
7pm UTC
Chris Wakelin vs Jack Lisowski
Ma Hailong vs Ryan Day
Ali Carter vs Hossein Vafaei
Joe O’Connor vs Kyren Wilson
Following 7pm games
Noppon Saengkham vs Luca Brecel
Mark Selby vs Elliot Slessor
Click here for the latest scores and results
(snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
Wilson’s Welsh Open record is a little underwhelming for a player of his stature. He’s only once progressed beyond the last 16 (runner-up in 2020) in twelve past appearances.