John Higgins won his third world title in 2009, beating Shaun Murphy 18–9 in the final. Michaela Tabb refereed the final, becoming the first woman to do so in a World Championship final. There were a record eighty-three century breaks in the Championship, well ahead of the previous highest of sixty-eight. Stephen Hendry won his 1000th at the Crucible Theatre, the first player to do so. The championship included the second longest ever frame at the Crucible which lasted seventy-four minutes fifty-eight seconds between Stephen Maguire and Mark King.