Snooker fans are saying this Ronnie O'Sullivan century break is better than his world record Crucible 147

However, one of the best metrics to judge his greatness by is through his record-breaking break-building stats.

O'Sullivan was the first player to compile 800, 900, and then 1,000 century breaks in professional competition. He continued to go where no cueists had gone before; at the time of writing, he has notched up 1,300 tons in top-flight competition, comfortably more than anyone else in the history of the sport.

‘The Rocket’ also tops the all-time charts when it comes to maximum 147 breaks. O’Sullivan currently has 17 perfect frames to his name - the last two came during the same match in his semi-final encounter with Chris Wakelin at the Saudi Arabia Masters in August. No single player before had made more than one 147 during the same session of a professional match.

Without doubt, though, O’Sullivan’s most famous break came in his first round match against Mick Price at the 1997 World Championship when he fashioned the fastest 147 break that professional snooker has ever seen, completing perfection in 5 minutes and 8 seconds on the hallowed Crucible Theatre stage.

However, some snooker fans online are saying and agreeing that a swashbuckling break O’Sullivan made the year before this rates even higher than his world record 147 at the Crucible.

The break in question - that is on YouTube and has over 580,000 views - came during the 1996 Masters at the Wembley Conference Centre in London.

O’Sullivan went into the Triple Crown event as the reigning and defending champion having won the first of his record-breaking eight Masters crowns in 1995 when he defeated John Higgins, 9-3, in an all-teenage final.

In the opening match of his title defence, O’Sullivan faced a tricky assignment against Nigel Bond, and it was Bond who made a brilliant start by registering runs of 110 and 97 on his way to a 3-0 lead.

Bond later made it 4-1 in the best-of-11 frames tie before O’Sullivan embarked on one of his signature bursts as breaks of 109, 56 and 81 helped him restore parity at 4-4. Both quick cueists, those eight frames combined lasted less than just 75 minutes.

However, the best was to come in frame nine, as spectators and pundits were left open-mouthed in amazement as O’Sullivan constructed a memorable total clearance of 128 in well under five minutes.

In such an important frame, O’Sullivan even briefly teased a 147 having potted the first six reds with blacks. At the time, the effort was the highest break of the tournament, although Stephen Hendry eventually went on to pocket that £10,000 bonus for a 144.

John Virgo - who was commenting on the match for the BBC - was thrilled by what he was watching: “Well, at the moment Ray [Edmonds, his co-commentator], I don’t think there’s a safe ball on the table. This is as good as I think I’ve ever seen. Particularly in the style of the way he plays them. This is tremendous stuff.”

Towards the end of the frame, Edmonds also heaped praise on O’Sullivan’s speedy contribution: “The Masters brings out the best in the best players in the world quite often, and I’ve got to agree with John, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite like this. A bout of sustained scoring so quick.”

Of course, both Virgo and Edmonds did not know what O’Sullivan was going to produce at the Crucible the following year, but viewers of the YouTube video do, and some think that the 128 is better in some ways than the 147.

@mitchfromtheinternet297 commented with: “This is his greatest break, score is irrelevant, he clears the same number of balls as his 147 record in much quicker time.”

The comment has received more than 60 thumbs-up, with @aliorr9356 concurring by saying: “I agree, it’s definitely better than the 147. This is just a display of supreme talent.”

However, @adamofyorkshire disagreed, thinking the 147 is a better achievement with: “Way harder to stay on the black.”

There are several other posts underneath the video from fans who were excited by what they watched. @wideernie said “Best break I’ve ever seen in my life!”, while @Sowoidnich commented with “This tops his 147 in the World Championship in 1997.... I just have no words.... this is the best frame I have ever seen!!! Sensational!!”

As for the rest of the match, having not scored a single point for four consecutive frames, Bond won frame ten 70-0 to force a deciding frame, but it was O’Sullivan who squeezed through a 6-5 winner.

O’Sullivan went on to eliminate Darren Morgan 6-4 in the quarter-finals, and then Andy Hicks 6-1 in the semi-finals, but his bid for back-to-back Masters crowns was denied by Hendry who defeated him 10-5 in the final.

However, O’Sullivan would successfully defend the Masters later in his career, with triumphs in 2016 and 2017 at the Alexandra Palace.

There are so many other contenders in the picture when it comes to listing O’Sullivan’s greatest breaks - several of his 147s, his 92 clearance in the 2012 world final, and his 3:34 century break at the 2022 Scottish Open - to name just a few.