Ronnie O’Sullivan has claimed he was close to conceding his dramatic second-round match with Ross Muir at the BetVictor Welsh Open after twice missing his cue.
The seven-time world champion overcame questions of frustration and a frame forfeit for a rule violation by scraping a miss into the last 32 with an enthralling 4-3 success.
He looked set to cruise to victory at Venue Cymru in Llandudno as he opened with a brilliant break of 108.
But her cue flew when she was potting the final pink of the first frame and again midway through the second frame, delaying the match twice.
The Scotsman accepted the interference to move 2-1 ahead courtesy of a pair of half-century breaks before O’Sullivan seemed to regain his rhythm enough to move back in front with tops of 58 and 78. .
But there was another twist as, after appearing to disagree with a warning from umpire Luise Kraatz, O’Sullivan overcame a third shot in a row by smashing wildly into the pink and sending the cue ball flying from table as a gift to his opponent. the sixth frame.
The world number one accepted an overachiever before saying he was ready to sacrifice his place in the competition.
“The tip is great, it just keeps falling out,” he told BBC Sport. “Every time I played a shot, I kept thinking ‘is it going to fall off?’.
“It was difficult because you basically have no confidence. I told the guy (Muir), ‘if he drops again, I’ll have to quit’ because I can’t keep changing my tip every five or six shots, it’s not fair to the opponent, or even the crowd.
“He stayed on, so we’ll have to wait and see (how he does in the next round). It’s never happened to me before.”
O’Sullivan will face world number 114 Rod Lawler after his 4-3 victory over two-time Croke champion Matthew Stevens.
O’Sullivan continued: “The nib was lovely, it’s nothing to do with the nib, maybe I need a new guy (the little metal band under the nib) – I’ll probably get a new ferrule later after this competition.
“I’m just happy I was able to put it in the back of my mind, still playing. It’s not all about talent, it’s about resilience, the mindset.”
While O’Sullivan survived a scare, Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui and Mark Williams were high-profile casualties.
Robertson and Ding won 4-0 against Dominic Dale and Cao Yupeng respectively, before Williams lost 4-3 to fellow Brit Jak Jones, despite producing a 122 break in frame three and twice leading.
Rising Chinese player Pang Junxu, the 2021 rookie of the year, beat Kyren Wilson 4-2, while compatriot Si Jiahui later fell 4-3 to four-time world champion Mark Selby.
King’s champion Joe Perry edged Mark Joyce 4-1, while Shaun Murphy was among the other players to advance on Tuesday after knocking out Peng Yisong on the same scoreline.