Ray Reardon was an icon of Welsh sport when he landed multiple world titles in snooker, but the 91-year-old showed he's still got it with a century break.
Reardon was a six-time world champion, with all of his titles coming in the 1970s. He also held the world number one ranking, but nothing quite compares to hitting a century break at 91.
The former champ hasn't played a ranking event in more than 30 years, but has evidently stayed sharp in the years since he stepped away from the professional circuit. A century break is something many budding players will take years to achieve at any age, let alone decades after retirement.
“Absolutely, a 100 break, couldn’t believe it," Reardon told Torbay Today. "I always wanted to beat my age… got a couple of 70s some time back and was happy with that.
“Then suddenly I did it … 100. Could not believe it. There cannot be many, if any, people in their 90s that have had a 100 break, I must be the only one in the world.
"Sadly, there is nobody left from my snooker circuit who is still playing, come to think of it. I have outlived everybody from my past. All my school friends… everyone, seen them all off.”
While it's unclear whether another player has managed to match Reardon's achievement in non-professional play, we do know who holds the honour of the oldest century scorer at the Crucible. That honour goes to Fred Davis, who achieved the feat when Reardon was still in his prime.
Do you know anyone who has managed a century break at a similar age? Let us know in the comments section
Davis, who was 65 at the time, also became the oldest player to win a match at the storied venue when he did so in 1979. He got as far as the quarter-finals that year, as did Reardon, with the latter falling to eventual finalist Dennis Taylor.
Reardon's dominance in the '70s led Ronnie O'Sullivan to name him as one of his biggest influences. It wasn't until 2022 that the 48-year-old broke the record for the most world titles, though more than 20 years have passed between his first and last.
"Ray Reardon brought a side to the game I never knew existed," O'Sullivan told Eurosport. "I learnt it and now I appreciate it and use it a lot, and when I have to."
O'Sullivan's comments came at the start of 2023, ahead of the Masters Snooker event in January. The veteran was a quarter-finalist at Ally Pally, suffering a narrow 6-5 defeat at the hands of Mark Williams after beating Luca Brecel.
Brecel got his revenge in April, though, handing O'Sullivan a 13-10 defeat in the World Championship quarter-finals. The Belgian ended up going all the way, being crowned world champ for the first time after seeing off Mark Selby in the final.