Ronnie O'Sullivan defied more cue tip woes to defeat Rod Lawler 4-0 in the third round of the Welsh Open in Llandudno.
The Rocket opted against changing his tip after it flew off twice during his hard-fought 4-3 triumph over Ross Muir on Tuesday and it was therefore little surprise to see it happen once again during the third frame against Lawler.
O'Sullivan, who had managed a superb century break of exactly 100 in the second frame, still managed a run of 62 to move 3-0 ahead before finishing the job with a 58.
It's a disaster for the Rocket 😬
— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 15, 2023
Ronnie O'Sullivan's cue tip has come off... 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 🤦♂️#WelshOpen | @ronnieo147 pic.twitter.com/gPPxwrelxi
Is it going to be Ronnie O'Sullivan's lucky day at the Welsh Open? ✨#WelshOpen | @ronnieo147 pic.twitter.com/8YkdVKlxgx
— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 15, 2023
Earlier in the day, Jimmy White's hopes of reaching the last 32 were ended after a 4-2 defeat to Tian Pengfei.
The Whirlwind made a high break of 57 in the third frame to move 2-1 up but Pengfei hit back with a run of 66 to restore parity before winning the next two.
John Higgins beat Martin Gould 4-0 to reach the last 32 as he bids to find some form in the second half of the season.
“It was good scoring today, that’s what I’ll need to produce for the rest of the tournament if I want to go deep,” said the 47-year-old, who made breaks of 89, 68, 97 and 66. “My focus is just trying to hit the ball more solid and play as well as I can. There are big events coming up – I’ve got the Championship League Winners’ Group, the Six Red event and the WST Classic so I have got time to get my game ready for Sheffield."
Judd Trump came from 2-1 down to claim a 4-2 win over Louis Heathcote and said: “Louis will be super disappointed because he created some good chances for himself but missed the crucial balls. I am getting out of jail a bit but also making the tough clearances that maybe I have been missing.
"Similar to the Masters, it looked like I was going out but made those important clearances under pressure. At the start of the season I might have lost that 4-3.”
Ali Carter remains on target to win the £150,000 BetVictor Series bonus at the end of this week, and his 4-1 win over amateur Ian Martin kept him £9,000 ahead of second-placed Mark Allen.
Allen, who needs to at least reach the semi-finals for a chance of over-taking Carter, eased into round three with a 4-1 win over Mitchell Mann.
