For some snooker players, changing their cue would be a traumatic experience – not for Ronnie O'Sulivan.

The 50-year-old, a seven-time world champion, used a different cue on Wednesday to the one he played with on Tuesday, and both had the same dominant effect.

His 10-2 victory over Chinese debutant He Guoqiang was the joint biggest so far at the 2026 World Championship and kept O'Sullivan on course for a record-breaking eighth Crucible title.

He led 7-2 after Tuesday's first session and breaks of 62, 113, 100 on Wednesday, all inside an hour and all with his back-up cue, set up a mouth-watering last-16 tie against four-time winner John Higgins.

"The tip is more important than the cue - that's why I brought two cues," said O'Sullivan, who admitted it had been a risky tactic.

"I've been saving this all year because it had a bit of life in it and I thought 'if I come here and my main cue is no good...'.

"The tip wasn't good yesterday. I did a good job, considering. I thought 'a bit of a roll of the dice,' it was a gamble. You have to back yourself. I make some crazy decisions in everybody else's eyes, but they make complete sense to me.

"I was a bit nervous because I thought you could look a bit silly."

Instead of looking silly, O'Sullivan make two century breaks in three rapid-fire entertaining frames before an enthralled Crucible crowd, which included former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Scholes.

In the penultimate frame of the match, O'Sullivan looked on course for a maximum 147 break, potting nine reds and eight blacks, before opting to go for a blue in a break of 113.

Last month at the World Open in China, he made a break of 153 at the World Open, the highest break in the history of the professional game, after a snooker left a free ball, which acted like a 16th red.

However, in his interviews around this match, he tried to claim he should be known as 'Rusty Ron'.

He reached the World Open final in China in March, but that was only his third tournament of 2026 - losing in the last 16 of the World Grand Prix and last 32 at the German Masters in January.

The match against 25-year-old He was the start of O'Sullivan's 34th Crucible campaign.

It was his first match in Britain since losing 6-4 to China's Zhou Yuelong in the UK Championship opening round in December.

That defeat at the York Barbican was the factor in the choice of cues.

"In the UK Championship, my tip was so bad," said O'Sullivan. "I felt good and I just couldn't play the shots I wanted to play and I thought 'I don't ever want to be in that situation again'.

"So, I thought 'right, I need two cues, so at least I've got a choice'. I'm in that situation now where my cue was hopeless yesterday.

"It [the second cue] was stuck under my bed in Ireland, basically, for most of the year until I came here. It was only because I'm feeling all right that I was able to get away with it."

The only time O'Sullivan was thrown out of his stride was on seeing Scholes sitting in the Crucible front row.