Ronnie O’Sullivan played with two cues during his World Snooker Championship opener and was happy with the ‘crazy’ decision after a 10-2 thrashing of He Guoqiang.
The Rocket looked in very good nick as he made three centuries and five more half-centuries in a demolition job on the Chinese debutant.
The 50-year-old dominated the first session on Tuesday, leading 7-2 overnight, but took a pretty drastic step before returning on Wednesday.
O’Sullivan came back with a different cue and he seemed to be very comfortable with it indeed, making breaks of 62, 113 and 100 to finish off the game in no time.
The seven-time world champion said it was the tip on the first cue that was the problem, but was happy with the second one he used against He.
‘Yeah, I think the tip is more important than the cue, to be honest,’ O’Sullivan told the BBC. ‘That’s why I brought two cues, I’ve been saving this all year because it had a bit of life in it.
Are you snooker loopy?
You’re in the right place. I’m Phil Haigh, and I cover the game we all love for Metro.
In my new newsletter, The Table, I’ll be analysing the biggest talking points, breaking down frames and crowning the week’s winners and losers every Monday.
The World Championship is here, so there’s no better time to sign up.
‘I thought, if I come here and my main cue is no good I’d rather have a cue that I like with a good tip on.
‘I can get used to anything pretty quickly, if I like it. That’s been the case, The tip wasn’t good yesterday, I done a good job, considering.
‘I thought a bit of a roll of the dice, it was a gamble. I was a bit nervous because I thought you could look a bit silly.
‘You have to back yourself, I make some crazy decisions in everybody else’s eyes, but they make complete sense to me.
‘And it seems to have worked for me over the years. I tend to just listen to my own advice when it comes to things like that. It might go wrong sometimes, but if you look at it overall it’s worked pretty well for me.’
The impressive victory sends a warning to his World Championship rivals that the legend is here and in good form after a run of over two years without winning a ranking title.
He showed great signs of hitting his stride at the World Open last month, reaching the final and knocking in a record-breaking 153 along the way in Yushan.
The Rocket’s rhythm will be seriously tested in the last 16 when he takes on John Higgins, who downed Ali Carter in the opening round.
The legendary pair will scrap it out over three sessions from Saturday to Monday.
In another message to the rest of the field, O’Sullivan said of his dominant first win: ‘It was alright but I need to improve. I’m still a bit rusty obviously but it is what it is.’
The 50-year-old pinched a tight third frame and then knocked in his first century of the tournament, 113, to go into the interval 4-0 up.
Despite a light schedule on tour this season, the Rocket’s game looked in good shape, with his long-potting encouragingly on point.
When O’Sullivan returned to take a close fifth, things were looking very bleak for He on his first outing at the Crucible.
However, the world number 47 composed himself after a difficult start, getting on the board in the sixth before an excellent break of 77 to take the seventh.
It was a strange eighth frame, which saw O’Sullivan miscue and later hit the wrong ball from distance, but the Englishman still made a 52 to take it.
The seven-time’s focus appeared to have dipped after a strong start, but it was back at the climax of the session as he made a brilliant break of 113 to end the afternoon in style.
The players returned on Wednesday afternoon and the Rocket made extremely short work of the rest of the match, winning the three frames he required in short order.
Breaks of 62, 113 and 100 got the game done and booked the blockbuster last 16 tie against John Higgins.