By Press Association Reporter
Published: 23:37 GMT, 10 March 2019 | Updated: 23:37 GMT, 10 March 2019
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Ronnie O'Sullivan became the first player to make 1,000 career century breaks after successfully defending his Coral Players Championship title with a convincing 10-4 victory over Neil Robertson.
The five-time world champion started the week in Preston on 994 career centuries and looked set to become the first player to reach the 1,000 mark when he rolled in a 101 break in the opening frame of his first round win over Barry Hawkins.
Number 996 and 997 soon followed during his 6-4 quarter-final triumph over John Higgins, but could not add to his total in his 6-0 whitewash of Mark Allen in the last four.
Ronnie O'Sullivan became the first player to make 1,000 career century breaks on Sunday
O'Sullivan looked set to be stranded on 999 after two centuries in the afternoon session, while a 9-4 lead at the mid-session interval in the evening let him within one frame of his 35th career ranking title.
But he defended his title in style, teasing the fans by stopping his approach while on 99 before potting the red left-handed and recording a 134 break, where he even managed to pot the white after sinking the final black to deny a superb 141 finish.
After creating his latest piece of snooker history, O'Sullivan told ITV4: 'I just played really, really well. I played well all week, but I played brilliantly today and to cap it off with 1,000 centuries is great.
'I suppose to me, it's just what I do since I was seven or eight, playing snooker, potting balls - I love the game. But to share it with the fans in Preston and any snooker fans, Preston are just lucky that it
