What is the record number of century breaks at the Crucible for the World Snooker Championship?

Nowadays, we are used to a bucketload of century breaks being made every year at the Crucible during the World Snooker Championship, but this wasn’t always the case.

In 1977 - the first year snooker’s blue riband event was held at the Crucible - only six tons were made in 15 matches.

Since the tournament’s main draw expanded to 32 players in 1982, we have seen a general increase in the total number of centuries made each year as the overall standard of professional snooker has risen due to several factors.

The 20 barrier was broken in 1986. The 30 barrier broken in 1991. The 50 barrier broken in 1998.

In 2009, the previous record of 68 was smashed as a new benchmark of 83 was set. 2015 and 2016 broke and equalled that tally with 86.

Perhaps unthinkable during the early days of the event, 100 centuries were recorded in 2019. This has since been eclipsed by 2021 (108) and 2022 (109).

Below is a full list of the total amount of centuries made at the Crucible each year and who made the highest break at the famous venue. Players in bold won the tournament:

1977: 6 (135 from John Spencer) - 16-player draw, 15 matches

1978: 7 (138 from John Spencer) - 16-player draw, 16 matches | includes third-place playoff

1979: 13 (142 from Bill Werbeniuk) - 16-player draw, 16 matches | includes third-place playoff

1980: 11 (136 from Steve Davis and Kirk Stevens) - 24-player draw, 23 matches

1981: 13 (145 from Doug Mountjoy) - 24-player draw, 23 matches

From 1982 onwards the Championship has featured a 32-player draw with 31 matches. In 2020, there were technically only 30 matches as Anthony Hamilton withdrew from his first round tie.

1982: 10 (143 from Willie Thorne)

1983: 18 (147 from Cliff Thorburn)

1984: 8 (138 from Rex Williams)

1985: 14 (143 from Bill Werbeniuk)

1986: 20 (134 from Steve Davis)

1987: 18 (127 from Steve Davis)

1988: 18 (140 from Steve James)

1989: 19 (141 from Stephen Hendry)

1990: 18 (140 from John Parrott)

1991: 31 (140 from Jimmy White)

1992: 25 (147 from Jimmy White)

1993: 35 (144 from Steve Davis)

1994: 35 (143 from Alan McManus)

1995: 30 (147 from Stephen Hendry)

1996: 48 (144 from Tony Drago and Peter Ebdon)

1997: 39 (147 from Ronnie O'Sullivan)

1998: 59 (143 from John Higgins and Jimmy White)

1999: 53 (142 from John Higgins)

2000: 54 (143 from Matthew Stevens)

2001: 53 (140 from Joe Swail)

2002: 68 (145 from Matthew Stevens)

2003: 53 (147 from Ronnie O'Sullivan)

2004: 55 (145 from Joe Perry)

2005: 63 (147 from Mark Williams)

2006: 46 (140 from Ronnie O'Sullivan)

2007: 68 (144 from Ali Carter)

2008: 62 (147 from Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ali Carter)

2009: 83 (147 from Stephen Hendry)

2010: 60 (146 from Mark Allen and Graeme Dott)

2011: 74 (138 from Mark King and Ding Junhui)

2012: 71 (147 from Stephen Hendry)

2013: 55 (143 from Neil Robertson)

2014: 58 (140 from Neil Robertson)

2015: 86 (145 from Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham)

2016: 86 (143 from Kyren Wilson)

2017: 74 (146 from Ronnie O'Sullivan)

2018: 84 (146 from John Higgins)

2019: 100 (143 from John Higgins)

2020: 79 (147 from John Higgins)

2021: 108 (144 from Shaun Murphy)

2022: 109 (147 from Neil Robertson)

2023: 90 (147 from Kyren Wilson and Mark Selby)

2024: 63 (142 from Mark Williams, Ricky Walden and Jackson Page)

Including ties, Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins have made the most Crucible highest breaks, doing this five times each

Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Neil Robertson are next with four each.

Jimmy White did it three times while John Spencer, Bill Werbeniuk, Matthew Stevens, Ali Carter, Kyren Wilson and Mark Williams all achieved it twice.

A huge thank you to Chris Downer/The Crucible Almanac and snooker.org for initially compiling the majority of the stats above and putting them into the public domain.