Ronnie O’Sullivan bites tip off cue as he crashes out of Welsh Open to Tian Pengfei
A frustrating week at the Welsh Open ended with a whitewash defeat to Tian Pengfei, and Ronnie O’Sullivan bit the tip off his cue before departing the scene.
It came off for a fourth and final time on Friday, but it was nothing to do with him striking the cue ball.
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The world champion had a poor day at the office, as his all-round play was way off the mark.
With Tian on the brink of wrapping up the win with a break of 73, the Eurosport cameras panned to O’Sullivan – resigned to missing out on qualification for next week’s Players Championship – just at the moment he chomped down on his cue to rip the tip off.
“The tip comes off and is no longer,” Neal Foulds said in the Eurosport studio. “You think of the journey Les Dodd had, 80 miles there and back, it counts for nothing.
“It should not take away from Tian Pengfei, he won.”
Jimmy White had some further insight on O’Sullivan’s cue, which is set to go to renowned cue manufacturer John Parris for remedial work.
“He was speaking to John Parris who is in Barbados on holiday, and he said he needs a new ferrule, not just a new tip,” White said. “We think the tip kept coming off because the ferrule was not level.
“I know that if he did not qualify for the tournament next week (Players Championship) the cue was being sent to John Parris on Monday.
“But when you put a new ferrule on, you have to take wood from the butt so it takes four or five days.
“He will have that done, try and do what he can in Thailand in the Six Reds, but his priority will be to try and win in Sheffield.”
O’Sullivan reflected on a tough week, and felt he dealt with the issues surrounding his tip extremely well.
‘You’ve got to deal with reality’ – O’Sullivan refuses to blame tip issues for Tian defeat
“It was what it was, you have to deal with reality and what is thrown at you,” O’Sullivan said. “If I have to score myself with how I dealt with it mentally, I would give myself a 9.5 today.
“Playing-wise, quite low down in potting balls and the technical side.
“I felt I dealt with it mentally and came out of that feeling okay.
“You have to deal with it, accept reality and move on.”
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