The 2025/26 season will see £100,000 on offer for the first player to make 100 centuries, just as it was last campaign, but how realistic is it as a target?
Well, it happened last season, so for at least one player it is very much achievable.
Judd Trump landed the £100,000 bonus by storming past the century of centuries target during the World Championship, ending his campaign on a record 107.
It was the second time he had reached the remarkable hundred hundreds, having also done so in 2019/20.
Three times it has happened in total, with Neil Robertson the first to reach the milestone in the 2013/14 season.
On the announcement of the bonus returning for the 2025/26 season, World Snooker Tour CEO Simon Brownell said: ‘We will start the new season with a fresh slate and all players have an opportunity to shoot for the stars and see if they can make it to a century of centuries.’
In reality, though, is is a very small number of players who are in the running.
Speaking during the World Championship, Mark Williams said of the target: ‘There’s only three players who’ve got a chance of getting that: Judd, Neil Robertson and [Ronnie] O’Sullivan if he played in every tournament.
‘There’s no other player who has got a sniff of winning that £100,000 bonus.’
After the announcement of this season’s bonus, last season’s World Championship runner-up posted on X: ‘Only 2 or 3 players can possibly get it.
‘I’m number 3 in the world and I have zero chance of getting that if I played in every comp.’
It does seem like stats back up Williams’ point, with no one other than Trump and Robertson ever coming close to the landmark tally.
Trump managed 90 centuries in 2020/21 and Robertson hit 84 in 2018/19 and these represent the closest any player has come other than when the 100-mark has been reached.
Top 10 most centuries in a season
- Judd Trump – 2024-2025 – 107
- Neil Robertson – 2013-2014 – 103
- Judd Trump – 2019-2020 – 102
- Judd Trump – 2020-2021 – 90
- Neil Robertson – 2018-2019 – 84
- Judd Trump – 2018-2019 – 83
- Judd Trump – 2014-2015 – 82
- Judd Trump – 2023-2024 – 79
- Ronnie O’Sullivan – 2017-2018 – 74
- Kyren Wilson – 2020-2021 – 74
The nearest anyone else has got to 100 centuries in a season was Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2017/18 and he finished on 74.
Speaking after defeat to Trump at the Crucible, Masters champion Shaun Murphy felt like he’d had a good campaign and finished way short on 58.
‘We called it the Judd Trump-Neil Robertson Award when it was announced at the start of the season,’ said the Magician. ‘I was chasing it myself and fell some way short.
‘I think I’ve had a really good season and I think I’ve made 50-odd. I’ve never got anywhere near 100 and I think I’m one of the best break-builders in the game!’
Murphy made the point that the statistics show just how spectacularly good Trump and Robertson – but especially Trump – has been in recent years.
‘It’s an incredible achievement that perhaps doesn’t get the national or international recognition it ought to,’ said Murphy. ‘It’s a phenomenal achievement and it will be going on my own to-do list next season.
‘I think all these initiatives are great. Anything that creates a bit more interest and talking points in the game is good.’
Most centuries 2024/25 season
- Judd Trump – 107
- Mark Selby – 73
- Kyren Wilson – 62
- Shaun Murphy – 58
- Jak Jones – 56
- Xiao Guodong – 54
- Mark Allen – 47
- John Higgins – 44
- Wu Yize – 44
- Neil Robertson – 43
Of course there are plenty of players with the capability of reaching huge break-building landmarks, but the likes of O’Sullivan, Murphy, John Higgins, Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson have not got particularly close to the century of centuries in a season before, so it would be a huge leap in tons to get there this season.
The wildcard this campaign coming will be the world champion, Zhao Xintong, despite the fact he has never made more than the 31 centuries he managed in the 2020/21 season.
Back on tour after his ban from the sport, coming into the new season as world champion and in the top 16, he will likely play in almost every event and could become a challenger for the bonus.
In the eight matches he played in World Championship qualifying and the main stages he made 18 centuries, showing off his immense break-building skills.
Trump should remain favourite to reach the century of centuries but Zhao may well now be the likeliest contender to beat him to the bonus, if anyone can.
For all the hopefuls, the key to success is likely to be found in a low-key environment – the Championship League Invitational in Leicester.
The unique event sees players able to compete in multiple groups dependent on performance and play on tables with seemingly very generous pockets – Trump described them as ‘playing very, very large’ – so it has become the perfect place to rack up the tons.
Jak Jones set a record for most centuries ever in a single tournament last season when he made 32 in the Championship League Invitational.
Trump’s record-breaking season tally of 107 was heartily boosted by his 23 in Leicester.
In comparison, Murphy didn’t play in the event, which partly explains why he fell so far short of the century of centuries.
So in conclusion, with O’Sullivan very unlikely to play enough to contend, we’re looking at Trump, Robertson and Zhao and we will only keep looking at them if they play in the century bonanza that is the Championship League in January.
It’s looking like a three-horse race which could have no winner, but with the carrot dangling, top players could look to fight their way into that race by entering every event possible.
That is ultimately the aim of the bonus for World Snooker Tour, and as Murphy says: ‘Anything that creates a bit more interest and talking points in the game is good.’
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