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cavedave/breaks.csv

Created May 4, 2026 22:08
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World Snooker Crucible: ggplot figures from snooker.org century data (R + CSV)
Raw
breaks.csv
Year Centuries High Break_Makers
2026 81
2025 107 147 Mark Allen
2024 63 142 Jackson Page, Mark J Williams and Ricky Walden
2023 90 147 Kyren Wilson and Mark Selby
2022 109 147 Neil Robertson
2021 108 144 Shaun Murphy
2020 79 147 John Higgins
2019 100 143 John Higgins
2018 84 146 John Higgins
2017 74 146 Ronnie O'Sullivan
2016 86 143 Kyren Wilson
2015 86 145 Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham
2014 58 140 Neil Robertson
2013 55 143 Neil Robertson
2012 71 147 Stephen Hendry
2011 74 138 Mark King and Ding Junhui
2010 60 146 Mark Allen and Graeme Dott
2009 83 147 Stephen Hendry
2008 62 147 Ronnie O'Sullivan and Allister Carter
2007 68 144 Allister Carter
2006 46 140 Ronnie O'Sullivan
2005 63 147 Mark J Williams
2004 55 145 Joe Perry
2003 53 147 Ronnie O'Sullivan
2002 68 145 Matthew Stevens
2001 53 140 Joe Swail
2000 54 143 Matthew Stevens
1999 53 142 John Higgins
1998 59 143 John Higgins and Jimmy White
1997 39 147 Ronnie O'Sullivan
1996 48 144 Tony Drago and Peter Ebdon
1995 30 147 Stephen Hendry
1994 35 143 Alan McManus
1993 35 144 Steve Davis
1992 25 147 Jimmy White
1991 31 140 Jimmy White
1990 18 140 John Parrott
1989 19 141 Stephen Hendry
1988 18 140 Steve James
1987 18 127 Steve Davis
1986 20 134 Steve Davis
1985 14 143 Bill Werbeniuk
1984 8 138 Rex Williams
1983 18 147 Cliff Thorburn
1982 10 143 Willie Thorne
1981 13 145 Doug Mountjoy
1980 11 136 Steve Davis and Kirk Stevens
1979 13 142 Bill Werbeniuk
1978 7 138 John Spencer
1977 6 135 John Spencer
Raw
snooker.r
# World Championship (Crucible) data.
# Source: https://www.snooker.org/Plr/wc_centuries.shtml
#
# Two figures: century counts (uniform markers) and highest break (147s accent).
# Styling: Tufte-oriented (see SKILL.md).
breaks <- read.csv("breaks.csv", stringsAsFactors = FALSE)
library(ggplot2)
r_cent <- cor(breaks$Year, breaks$Centuries)
breaks$is147 <- !is.na(breaks$High) & breaks$High == 147
theme_tufte_snooker <- function() {
theme_minimal(base_size = 11) +
theme(
plot.background = element_rect(fill = "#fffff8", colour = NA),
panel.background = element_rect(fill = "#fffff8", colour = NA),
panel.grid.major.x = element_blank(),
panel.grid.minor = element_blank(),
panel.grid.major.y = element_line(colour = "#eeeeee", linewidth = 0.35),
panel.border = element_blank(),
axis.line.x.bottom = element_line(colour = "#cccccc", linewidth = 0.4),
axis.line.y.left = element_line(colour = "#cccccc", linewidth = 0.4),
axis.title = element_text(family = "sans", size = 10, colour = "#666666"),
axis.text = element_text(family = "sans", size = 9, colour = "#666666"),
plot.title = element_text(
family = "serif", face = "bold", size = 13.5, colour = "#111111",
margin = margin(b = 6)
),
plot.subtitle = element_text(family = "serif", size = 10, colour = "#666666", lineheight = 1.35),
plot.caption = element_text(size = 8, colour = "#666666", hjust = 0, lineheight = 1.35),
axis.minor.ticks.x.bottom = element_line(colour = "#cccccc", linewidth = 0.25),
axis.minor.ticks.length.x.bottom = grid::unit(1.6, "mm"),
axis.ticks.x.bottom = element_line(colour = "#cccccc", linewidth = 0.4),
)
}
# X-axis: label every 5 years; extra short ticks on decade years (1980, 1990, …) as anchors
yr_max <- max(breaks$Year)
x_years <- seq(1975, ceiling(yr_max / 5) * 5, 5)
x_decades <- seq(1980, ceiling(yr_max / 10) * 10, 10)
x_scale <- function() {
scale_x_continuous(
breaks = x_years,
minor_breaks = x_decades,
guide = guide_axis(minor.ticks = TRUE)
)
}
g_centuries <- ggplot(breaks, aes(Year, Centuries)) +
geom_smooth(method = "lm", se = FALSE, linewidth = 0.45, colour = "#666666", formula = y ~ x) +
geom_point(colour = "#666666", shape = 1, size = 2, stroke = 0.6) +
x_scale() +
labs(
title = "Century breaks at the Crucible rose across the modern era",
subtitle = paste0(
"100+ breaks per World Championship (1977–", max(breaks$Year), "). ",
"Year vs count r ≈ ", sprintf("%.2f", r_cent), "."
),
x = "Year",
y = "Centuries",
caption = "Data: snooker.org Crucible centuries list · by @iamreddave"
) +
theme_tufte_snooker()
g_high <- ggplot(breaks, aes(Year, High)) +
geom_line(colour = "#dddddd", linewidth = 0.35, aes(group = 1), na.rm = TRUE) +
geom_point(data = subset(breaks, !is.na(High) & !is147), colour = "#666666", size = 1.9) +
geom_point(data = subset(breaks, is147), colour = "#e41a1c", size = 2.4) +
x_scale() +
labs(
title = "Tournament high break: many years hit the 147 maximum",
subtitle = "Highest clearance at each World Championship. Red = 147 (table maximum).",
x = "Year",
y = "High break (points)",
caption = "Data: snooker.org Crucible centuries list · by @iamreddave"
) +
theme_tufte_snooker()
dir.create("figures", showWarnings = FALSE)
ggsave("figures/snooker_centuries.png", g_centuries, width = 9, height = 6, dpi = 150, bg = "#fffff8")
ggsave("figures/snooker_high_break.png", g_high, width = 9, height = 6, dpi = 150, bg = "#fffff8")
message("Wrote figures/snooker_centuries.png")
message("Wrote figures/snooker_high_break.png")
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