Century break
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In the sport snooker, century break refers to scoring 100 points or more within one turn at the table, without missing a shot. The player does this by potting red balls and coloured balls alternately.
Scoring 100 points over the course of a whole frame is not a century. It must be done during one break (turn at the table). Points for a foul shot by the opponent do not count in the player's break.
The highest possible century in snooker is 147, composed of 15 reds, 15 blacks and the six remaining colours; yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black potted consecutively.
Under exceptional circumstances, it is possible to score a break of 155. if a player comes to the table after a foul shot by the opponent and he is unable to hit both sides of any red ball, he may nominate one of the colours as a red. Under these circumstances, it is possible to pot 16 reds and blacks, plus 27 points for the six remaining colours, totalling 155 points.
To score a century, there must be at least ten reds on the table when the player comes to play. If there are nine reds, then he can only score 99 (9 x 8 + 27 = 99) points at best.
The seven-time World Champion Stephen Hendry holds the record for century breaks in tournament play. He has currently made 709 in tournament play.
The quickest recorded century break in tournament play was by Tony Drago. In the 1996 UK Championship, he took just 3 minutes 31 seconds (211 seconds) to score a hundred.
The youngest player to score a professional century break was Judd Trump at 14 years 206 days old.
