Stephen Hendry notched the 700th century break of his career as he saw off Robert Milkins 5-1 at the Malta Cup yesterday.

Snooker’s most successful ever player, Hendry made his first pro ton in the 1986 World Championship and reached the 700 milestone today in the third frame against Milkins.

The world No 1 goes through to the last 16 at the Hilton in Portomaso to face Neil Robertson, another 5-1 winner of Marcus Campbell.

This tournament brought Hendry his 36th and last ranking title two years ago and he is in the mood to repeat that success.

"I’m playing well and getting to finals and semis, so I’m happy with that, but I want to be winning tournaments, that’s it’s all about in any sport," said the 38-year-old Scot.

"I am delighted to reach 700 centuries, it’s fantastic. I didn’t know I was on 699 but I’m glad I didn’t as I probably would have twitched!"

Gloucester’s Milkins took a scrappy first frame but seven-times World Champion Hendry stormed back with runs of 54, 127, 73 and 49 to lead 4-1.

Milkins looked set to pull one back but missed a brown on 55 in frame six. Hendry cleared to the pink with 52 and, despite missing a tough long black, potted it two shots later to secure victory.

Robertson, the Royal London Watches Grand Prix champion, scored a 5-1 victory over Marcus Campbell despite a top break of just 32.

"Sometimes you just have to win when you're not playing well," said the Australian. "That's the key to winning tournaments. You can't expect to play flawless snooker all of the time, and when it's not there you have to be patient and not try to force things.

"My target this season is to get into the top eight. I've got a decent record in Malta, I had two quarter-finals then Stephen Hendry beat me in the first round last year with four centuries, so I hope I can do better against him this time."

In the evening, there was a major surprise when John Higgins was bundles out by Marcu Fu who went on to win the clash 5-3

Yesterday’s results

S. Hendry bt R. Milkins

5-1; N. Robertson bt M. Campbell 5-1; S. Murphy-R. Walden 3-4 (to be resumed); J. Parrott-M. Holt 4-5; A. Carter-R. Lawler 5-2; J. Higgins-M. Fu 3-5.

Today’s programme

4pm M. Stevens-R. Day; S. Lee-R. Walden or S. Murphy; T. Ford-G. Dott

8pm B. Hawkins-M. King; R. O’Sullivan-M. Holt; A. Carter -M. Fu.