Ronnie O’Sullivan’s ‘rolling the dice’ cue gamble pays off at World Snooker Championship

For some snooker players, changing their cue would be a traumatic experience – not for Ronnie O’Sulivan.

The 50-year-old, a seven-time world champion, used a different cue on Wednesday to the one he played with on Tuesday, and both had the same dominant effect.

His 10-2 victory over Chinese debutant He Guoqiang was the joint biggest so far at the 2026 World Championship and kept O’Sullivan on course for a record-breaking eighth Crucible title.

He led 7-2 after Tuesday’s first session and breaks of 62, 113, 100 on Wednesday, all inside an hour and all with his back-up cue, set up a mouth-watering last-16 tie against four-time winner John Higgins.

“The tip is more important than the cue – that’s why I brought two cues,” said O’Sullivan, who admitted 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.”

Instead of looking silly, O’Sullivan make two century breaks in three rapid-fire entertaining frames before an enthralled Crucible crowd, which included former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes.

It nearly got better too.

In the penultimate frame of the match, O’Sullivan looked on course for a maximum 147 break, potting nine reds and eight blacks, before opting to go for a blue in a break of 113.