Despite breaking the all-time career centuries record, Ronnie O’Sullivan insists the job is far from done after booking his place in the Masters semi-finals.

O’Sullivan made century number 776 with a break of 101 in the opening frame to surpass Stephen Hendry’s total, before going on to blitz Marco Fu 6-1 at London’s Alexandra Palace on Thursday.

‘The Rocket’ received a standing ovation from the crowd upon breaking the record but Fu brought him back to earth with a bump as he pinched the next frame on the black to level proceedings at 1-1.

Although he failed to make another ton, O’Sullivan began to show the sort of form that has made him a five-time Masters champion and the man from Hong Kong had no answer.

Further breaks of 67, 85 and 66 wrapped up victory in just one hour, 44 minutes and book a semi-final spot on Saturday.

And the 39-year-old admitted that sitting atop the career centuries list is less important to him than claiming a sixth Masters title.

“It’s a nice record to have but I was just pleased that it was done early and out of the way,” admitted O’Sullivan. “Now I can just focus on playing and winning this tournament.

“It’s a big thing for the crowd and people involved in snooker, so I wanted to let them enjoy it.

“It has taken me 21 years to get it, so I wanted to let them have a couple of minutes of clapping but I didn’t want it to overshadow what we were there to do, which was play a match.

“It was important to settle down after that and get on with the game.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match but I was pleased with my attitude – I played the match from start to finish as if every ball counted and I was happy with that.”

Hendry retired from snooker in May 2012 having compiled 775 century breaks and although O’Sullivan has surpassed that, the Scot still holds numerous other records including most World Championship wins with seven, most ranking titles with 36 and most centuries in a single tournament with 16.

While it is feasible that ‘The Rocket’ takes some, or all, of those records before he calls it a day, he believes that Hendry coming out of retirement would be a huge boost for snooker.

And the world No. 3 has even gone as far as trying to convince the 46-year-old to make a return to the game.

“For Stephen, it is all about the pleasure of winning and I’ve said to him, maybe you need to change your perspective in some ways,” added O’Sullivan.

“See playing snooker as something to do rather than winning. Who cares if you lose? You’ve won seven world titles and are the biggest legend snooker has ever had – people just want to see you.

“Even if you lost 4-0, people would still say ‘that’s Stephen Hendry’. It’s a bit like if Maradona walked in the room – he’s always going to be Maradona.

“So I’ve tried to talk him into changing his perspective which I think is what it’s probably going to need for him to play again.”

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