‘I’ve played with worse and won’ – Ronnie O’Sullivan shrugs off ‘unplayable’ cue at World Championship

Ronnie O’Sullivan claims his cue has been “unplayable” at times in his World Championship quarter-final with Stephen Maguire – but insists he has “played with worse and won”. The six-time world champion sits two frames from the last four after opening up an 11-5 lead at the Crucible, although the scoreline reflects Maguire’s missed opportunities as much as any Rocket magic. Ad/> A wild miscue in the 12th frame summed up an indifferent outing for O’Sullivan, who spent much of the time in his chair fiddling with his cue tip.

/> World Championship‘He can’t play like that’ — White fires warning to O’Sullivan9 HOURS AGO O’Sullivan admitted he called upon cue tip connoisseur Les Dodd for assistance after struggling in the first session earlier on Tuesday, despite taking it 6-2. “As long as it doesn’t implode on me, then obviously it will stay on,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport when asked about his tip. “Les Dodd did a fantastic job.

It was unplayable at the start of the day. I called him up to come and tidy it up, he’s tidied it up. “Listen, it’s not ideal, but hopefully the more I play with it, the more I get comfortable.

“I have played with worse and won.” Despite his healthy lead, Jimmy White insisted O’Sullivan “can’t play like that” if he wants to have a fighting chance of beating fellow Class of '92 star John Higgins in the semi-finals. Higgins leads Jack Lisowski, conqueror of 147 man Neil Robertson, 5-3 after the first session of their best-of-25 encounter. “He has been playing really well all season, he’s played well in this tournament so we know it’s in the tank,” said Eurosport expert White.