Ronnie O'Sullivan's blunt reaction to snooker rival bringing three cues to tournament

Ronnie O'Sullivan has admitted he has brought two cues to the 2026 World Snooker Championship - but it appears that is as far as he wants to go.

O'Sullivan thrashed Chinese qualifier He Guoqiang 10-2 in his first round match at the Crucible.

The seven-time world champion admitted post-match that he changed his cue overnight, and reeled off three consecutive frames on Wednesday afternoon to win.

"My cue was hopeless yesterday," he said. "I felt like I could play the shots that I like today.

"It was stuck under my bed in Ireland, basically, for most of the year until I came here."

O'Sullivan has long encountered issues with the tip on his cue, and explained that the cue tip is 'more important' to him than the actual cue itself.

Whether he keeps the same cue for his much-anticipated second round clash against John Higgins remains to be seen.

What is apparent, though, is that he probably won't be reaching out for a third cue - if his past comments are anything to go by.

In 2023, 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy decided to bring three cues with him to the Northern Ireland Open.

Each cue had a different tip size, at 9.2mm, 9.3mm and 9.5mm, and he planned to use at least two of them across qualifying and the main draw of the tournament.

'The Magician' recorded wins over Marco Fu and Sean O'Sullivan before being defeated 4-2 by Chris Wakelin in the third round.

The idea behind his unusual approach was that using a different cue could help him adapt better to changing table conditions as the tournament developed.

Murphy brought two alternate cues to one tournament (Image: Getty)

But given Murphy's early exit, O'Sullivan was having none of it.

"Have three cues if you're winning," O'Sullivan told Eurosport. "But when you keep getting pumped, it doesn't look good, does it?

"So start winning some matches before you start doing that."

Murphy fired back at that dig on his podcast, The Onefourseven Snooker Podcast, stating: "I didn't get it, I didn't understand what the joke was. I thought it was a bit of a cheap shot.

"I won three or four matches last week in Belfast - I'd taken multiple cues into the arena every time I walked out to play.

"Anyone who understands what I'm trying to do at the moment understands that it's only towards the end of the event that I'm going to need the second cue, as conditions deteriorate. So when was I meant to do it?

"Jokes are fine. I hope he remembers who started it when it all goes wrong in the future. Because unless you've been living under a rock for 20 years, you will know that we're not the best of friends.

"Remember this, Ron - if you're going to tell jokes, they have to be funny."