Ronnie O'Sullivan should have been warned of 'certain defeat' as snooker rival wades in

Neil Robertson has waded into decision to make major cue alterations, insisting Rocket should have been warned it would have resulted in "certain defeat". O'Sullivan had the tip and ferrule on his cue changed overnight with his semi-final against Zhao Xintong evenly poised at 4-4.

But things went downhill quickly when they resumed as the seven-time world champion lost all eight frames during Friday morning's session to go 12-4 down. Zhao then tied up a to become the second Chinese player to reach the Crucible final after Ding Junhui. Following the first session, O'Sullivan visited Chesworth Cues in Sheffield for an 'express retip' and change of ferrule - the mental sleeve at the end of the cue below the tip.

The business announced the visit by snooker's greatest player in an Instagram post that read: "Well, we can't pull the wool over your eyes, yes it was Ronnie's cue. . That late night express retip and changing his ferrule from titanium to brass, was for Ronnie O'Sullivan. Book your retip in today."

O'Sullivan's decision to make such a key change mid-match was met with widespread amazement, even despite his long-running equipment issues, which saw him snap his old cue in anger and dump it in a bin at the Championship League in January.

Former Crucible champion has given his thoughts, posting on X: "I hope who ever changed Ronnie's tip AND ferrule made it very clear to him that doing so would result in an almost certain heavy defeat before posting anything on social media. Switching from titanium to brass or vice versa mid match unless something was damage is crazy."

Coming into the tournament, O'Sullivan had not played on the tour since his cue-smashing incident. However, he was unsure whether the new cue he used in Sheffield was to blame for his exit or if it was his game.

"I don't even know if it was the cue, the ferrule or me. There were three things," he said. "I just don't even know where the white ball's going. I'm at a loss, to be honest with you. I don't even know what to say.

"Sometimes you've got to try something different, you know? It didn't feel great before so I tried to go back to the old brass ferrule.

"I'm not making the cue as an excuse or anything like that but if I hadn't snapped my old cue maybe I'd have been able to give him a better game but really my performances have not been good enough."