Ronnie O'Sullivan breaks two more records in latest World Snooker Championship win

Even now, O’Sullivan continues to raise the bar with new snooker benchmarks.

Earlier this season, he made two maximum 147 breaks during his semi-final match against Chris Wakelin at the Saudi Arabia Masters - the first time that two perfect frames had been fashioned during the same session of top flight snooker.

Only a few weeks ago in Yushan, China, the 50-year-old made a world record break of 153 in his quarter-final match against Ryan Day at the World Open. This effort was made possible due to the use of a freeball before any of the 15 reds had been potted.

And on his latest visit to snooker’s grandest stage, the Crucible, O’Sullivan is re-writing the record books once again, and not in just one category.

As the world number 12, O’Sullivan is a seeded player for the 2026 World Snooker Championshiphad , meaning he went straight through to the main draw and didn’t have to qualify. The last time he had to play in such preliminaries was back in the 1994 edition.

His round one engagement in this year’s competition was against 25-year-old He Guoqiang from China who was making his main draw debut in the sport’s blue riband event. Whilst it was He’s first outing at the Crucible, it was O’Sullivan’s record-extending 34th excursion to the famous venue.

O’Sullivan registered a hat-trick of century breaks in a comfortable 10-2 win world number 47 He.

The Englishman made his debut in 1993 - during his rookie season as a professional when he had to navigate ten rounds of qualifying - and he has been back every year since, despite having had periods of inactivity in his career. A perfect attendance record at the Crucible.

Just behind O’Sullivan on the all-time Crucible Theatre appearances list is fellow ‘Class of 92’ graduate John Higgins who has 32 caps. These two will meet in a blockbuster best-of-25 frames second round showdown scheduled across three sessions that starts on Saturday night (19:00BST).

The first of O’Sullivan’s seven world championship crowns came in 2001 when he got the better of Higgins in the final - the first of six meetings between the two on the hallowed Sheffield floor. The current head-to-head score is 3-3.

Victory over He has put O’Sullivan into the last 16 of the World Snooker Championship for the 30th time - another record.

Only four times has ‘The Rocket’ failed to win his opening round match at the Crucible. The first of those came on his debut to Alan McManus.

In 2000 - despite racking up five century breaks during the tie - he was ousted by David Gray, 10-9. Three years later at the opening hurdle, Marco Fu defeated him 10-6 after O’Sullivan made a maximum 147 break in frame seven that was ultimately worth £169,000.

One of the most seismic shocks in World Snooker Championship history came in 2019 when O’Sullivan - who travelled to Sheffield at the end of a trophy-laden season - was eliminated 10-8 by James Cahill, a player who didn’t hold a professional tour card at the time.

Of course, the one record that O’Sullivan wants to break the most is claiming an unprecedented eighth World Snooker Championship title. He currently shares the modern-day record with fellow seven-time Crucible conqueror Stephen Hendry.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Snooker Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.