Chigwell’s Ronnie O’Sullivan aims to surpass Stephen Hendry’s century record and reach 1,000 career tons before retiring from snooker.

The 39-year-old, pictured, is closing in on Hendry’s record after three successive century breaks in his German Masters qualifier against Norwich’s George Pragnell last Friday.

Speaking on BBC’s Saturday Kitchen programme, O’Sullivan said: “I was just focusing on beating Hendry’s record but thought ‘no, look beyond that’.

“I have set a target of 1,000 for myself which means I have to play for another three years. You have to find motivations to keep playing,” he added.

O’Sullivan brushed Pragnell aside 5-2 to move to within two of all-time record holder Hendry, making consecutive breaks of 117, 106 and 104 in Wigan.

The five-time world champion has a total of 773 tons leaving him two shy of Hendry’s record after beating Aditya Mehta 5-2 in his second round qualifier.