Ronnie O’Sullivan reveals he was ready to concede match to Rod Lawler after yet more tip trouble at Welsh Open

Updated 16/02/2023 at 07:16 GMT

Ronnie O’Sullivan says he told Rod Lawler he was prepared to forfeit their match after his tip flew off yet again at the Welsh Open. Having seen it dislodge twice against Ross Muir in round two, O’Sullivan’s tip broke for a third time in the middle of his last-32 match with Lawler. Stream top snooker action, including the Welsh Open, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.co.uk.

O’Sullivan reveals he was ready to concede match to Lawler after further tip trouble

Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he was ready to concede his third round match to Rod Lawler after more tip troubles at the Welsh Open.

O’Sullivan was on a break to go 3-0 up on Wednesday night before his tip flew off for a third time this week in Llandudno, having come off twice against Ross Muir, which left him frustrated before he went on to whitewash his opponent.

He told Lawler his “cue was broken” before getting a new tip fitted by tournament director Paul Collier.

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“I said to him [Lawler] you can have the match at 2-0,” O’Sullivan said in the Eurosport studio.

“I said to Paul Collier there’s no point in me having to keep on coming here, keep putting tips on, I’m happy to give the match to Rod.

“I don’t think Rod wanted to play either! I felt for Rod, he’s a good lad.”

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He added: “Every shot I’m playing I’m thinking the tip is going to fall off. I’m surprised it didn’t fall off on a couple of blacks I played in that last frame.

“It will come off again, I will try and stick it on again. There’s nothing else you can do.

“It’s worse than a miscue because miscues are down to you. If you cue it badly you shouldn’t miscue. I’m not cueing badly, my tip just keeps coming off.

“I think I’m doing really well. I’m just working on my mindset, irrelevant of how I play or do."

O’Sullivan will get his cue sent to cue manufacturer John Parris so he can get a new ferrule, but that is unlikely to happen this week.

Should O'Sullivan reach the final of the Welsh Open, he will secure a place in next week’s Players Championship.

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If not, the former world No. 1‘s next tournaments will be the Championship League at the end of this month and the Six-red World Championship on March 6-11 in Thailand, which he seemed keen to do well in.

“Thailand is a big tournament and obviously Sheffield [the World Championship],” said O’Sullivan. "The three majors are what I would like to do well in.

“Thailand, Hong Kong, those types of events, I like to prioritise them.”

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