Ronnie O’Sullivan’s routine first-round win over He Guoqiang in the first round of this year’s World Championship turned the heads of hushed spectators at the Crucible, but it wasn’t the manner of The Rocket’s victory that raised eyebrows, it was the tools with which he chose to do it.
O’Sullivan, 50, is bidding to become the first man to win a record eighth World Championship title. He required just 35 minutes to turn his 7-2 overnight advantage into victory in Sheffield before revealing that he had switched his cues for the second day’s play.
The Rocket uses the cues produced by master craftsman John Parris, and though each one takes more than a year to make, O’Sullivan has been known to snap any he doesn’t like.
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Why did Ronnie O’Sullivan use two cues?
O’Sullivan is renowned for his maverick streak and so his choice to swap cues will not have come as a big surprise to seasoned snooker fans.
That said, for a sport that requires an almost symbiotic relationship between a player and their cue, the choice to switch them mid-contest is not common.
O’Sullivan admitted it was a risky tactic that could have backfired, especially as he had opened up a commanding lead over his opponent on Tuesday.
“The tip is more important than the cue — that’s why I brought two cues,” said O’Sullivan to BBC, admitting it had been a risky tactic.
“I’ve been saving this all year because it had a bit of life in it and I thought ‘if I come here and my main cue is no good…’
“The tip wasn’t good yesterday. I did a good job, considering. I thought ‘a bit of a roll of the dice’, it was a gamble. You have to back yourself. I make some crazy decisions in everybody else’s eyes, but they make complete sense to me.
“I was a bit nervous because I thought ‘you could look a bit silly’.”
O’Sullivan, though, made two century breaks with his new cue and came close to a maximum 147 break in the penultimate frame before wrapping up the win in double-quick time to the delight of the Crucible crowd, which included Manchester United legend Paul Scholes.
The match against China’s He was O’Sullivan’s first in Britain since he lost 6-4 to Zhou Yuelong in the opening round of the UK Championship in December. O’Sullivan said that defeat influenced his decision to bring an additional cue to the Crucible.
“In the UK Championship, my tip was so bad,” O’Sullivan said. “I felt good and I just couldn’t play the shots I wanted to play and I thought: ‘I don’t ever want to be in that situation again.’
“So, I thought: ‘right, I need two cues, so at least I’ve got a choice.’ I’m in that situation now where my cue was hopeless yesterday.
“It [the second cue] was stuck under my bed in Ireland, basically, for most of the year until I came here. It was only because I’m feeling all right that I was able to get away with it.”
O’Sullivan, who faces 50-year-old John Higgins in the second round, said he will continue to gamble as he makes his bid for an historic eighth World Championship title.
“Rusty Ron comes here and rolls a bit of the dice and some of the time they’re sixes, but most of the time they’re ones in the last three years,” he said.
“Hopefully I can throw a couple of fives or sixes against John.”
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Has Ronnie O’Sullivan had cue problems before?
O’Sullivan has had frustrations with his cues before, most recently before he withdrew from The Masters last January.
“I snapped my cue, so that’s unplayable. I just knew at that moment in time, the right decision was to not play,” he said.
“I’ve got a couple of other cues that I’ve got to start practicing with… I’m going to continue to play so I need to get used to the cue now.”
The cue’s destructive end saddened its maker, John Parris, who last year told the BBC: “He is not settled. I’m not sure what cue he’s coming out with every time he comes through the curtain. It could be a different one every day. He’s not happy with it but he’s managing. We’ll get there — we’ll get the perfect one in the end.”
But don’t expect O’Sullivan to follow Shaun Murphy’s example and take three cues to a tournament — something The Magician did for the Northern Ireland Open in 2023.
Asked for his thoughts on the decision, O’Sullivan replied: “You can have three cues if you’re winning but if you keep getting pumped it doesn’t look good, does it? So I’d suggest start winning some matches before you start doing that.”
