Ronnie O'Sullivan Factfile

We take a closer look at Ronnie O'Sullivan following his remarkable maximum break at the Crucible.

1975: Born Wordsley, West Midlands, December 5.

1987: Wins his first pro-am tournament - at the age of 12.

1991: Scores his first 147 break in English Amateur Championships, aged 15.

1992: Turns professional.

1993: Becomes youngest-ever winner of ranking tournament, beating Stephen Hendry 10-6 to win UK Championship aged 17.

1994: Wins British Open.

1995: Wins Benson & Hedges Masters.

1996: Wins Asian Classic and German Open. Found guilty by snooker's governing body of assaulting an official at the World Championship and handed a two-year suspended sentence, a £20,000 fine and advised to donate £10,000 to charity.

1997: Wins UK Championship for second time. Compiles the fastest 147 on record in just five minutes 20 seconds during World Championship first-round win over Mick Price.

1998: Wins Regal Scottish Masters. Beaten in World Championship semi-final by John Higgins. Tests positive for marijuana after winning the Irish Masters and is later stripped of the title.

1999: Wins China Open. Fails to reach World Championship final again after losing semi-final to Hendry.

2000: Knocked out of World Championship in first round 10-9 by David Gray. Makes maximum breaks in Grand Prix and Regal Scottish Masters, winning the latter.

2001: Wins Champions Cup, Regal Masters, China Open, Irish Masters and his first World Championship - beating John Higgins 18-14 - before crushing Ken Doherty 10-1 in UK Championship final in York.

2002: Retains UK Championship title but fails in his bid to hold on to the world title, losing 17-13 to Stephen Hendry in the semi-final.

2003: Wins Regal Scottish Masters, the European Open and the Citywest Irish Masters but suffers a 10-6 first-round defeat at the World Championships to Marco Fu of Hong Kong, despite recording his second maximum break at The Crucible in the seventh frame.

November - Loses 9-6 to Hendry in the British Open final in Brighton, and loses again to the Scot in the semi-finals of the UK Championship later the same month.

2004: January - Beats Steve Davis 9-8 to win the Welsh Open.

February - Loses 10-9 to Paul Hunter in the final of the Masters at Wembley.

May 3 - Beats 200-1 outsider Graeme Dott 18-8 at The Crucible to take second Embassy World Championship.

2005: Reaches quarter-finals of World Championship but loses 13-11 to Peter Ebdon after leading 8-2. Ebdon was accused of deliberate slow play to disrupt O'Sullivan's game.

Wins Masters and Welsh Open. During first round match of UK Championship against Mark King, O'Sullivan sits with a wet towel draped over his head for much of the match.

2006: Reaches World Championship semi-finals despite being dogged by problems with the tip of his cue throughout the tournament. Loses to eventual winner Graeme Dott and hands his cue to a young boy in the crowd.

December: Walks out of his UK Championship quarter-final with Stephen Hendry, trailing 4-1. O'Sullivan later apologised but was fined £20,800 and docked 900 ranking points.

2007: Returned to action in the Masters at Wembley and wins the event, beating Ding Junhui 10-3.

Loses in the World Championship quarter-finals to eventual winner John Higgins. During the Northern Ireland Trophy O'Sullivan sets a new record by compiling five centuries in a 5-2 defeat of Ali Carter, including his seventh competitive 147 maximum break.

December: Compiles his eighth competitive 147 against Mark Selby in the deciding frame of their UK Championship semi-final, equalling Stephen Hendry's record. Beats Stephen Maguire 10-2 in the final.

2008: Loses to Marco Fu in the first round of the China Open and then makes a number of lewd comments during his post-match press conference. Incident is referred to World Snooker's disciplinary committee.

April 28: Makes his ninth competitive 147 in the final frame of his 13-7 second round victory over Mark Williams in the 888.com World Championship.