Ronnie O'Sullivan breaks Stephen Hendry's century record on the way to claiming 43rd Masters win

Ronnie O'Sullivan usurped Stephen Hendry with his 776<sup>th career century break on his way to reaching the Masters semi-final after a 6-1 victory over Marco Fu at Alexandra Palace.

The 39-year-old is now the player with the most centuries in the history of the game, having equalled Hendry's record in his win over Ricky Walden in the previous round.

O'Sullivan broke the record in the opening frame with a break of 101 but after Fu squared the match at 1-1, the five-time world champion reeled off five successive frames to cruise into the last four with a record 43<sup>rd win at the event.

Ali Carter or Neil Robertson await in Saturday's semi-final, with the pair's quarter-final clash scheduled for Thursday night (15 January).

"I was a bit nervous to be honest because I knew everyone was thinking about it so it was good to get it out of the way," said O'Sullivan, who continues to play in a foot brace after breaking his ankle in November. "There was still a match to play and everyone just needed to calm down.

"I was solid, I was more pleased with how I didn't get frustrated. I expect to just reel five, six frames on the trot, I've been doing it quite a lot and when you're not feeling in that form you can feel bad."