Ronnie O'Sullivan takes £150 emergency trip before resuming Zhao Xintong encounter

took an emergency trip to a cue doctor in a desperate bid to keep his alive last night. The Rocket, 49, was playing with a brand new cue with a titanium ferrule, for the first time in his career, in his tilt to win a record eighth Crucible crown.

Speaking ahead of his semi-final the fifth seed branded his cue as "awful" and said he needed a new tip and ferrule. And after locked at 4-4 the seven-time champion decided enough was enough and took his cue to a local repairman to return to a favoured brass ferrule.

It is a risky move for the game's greatest ever player, who paid £150 for the service, midway through a Crucible semi-final. O'Sullivan, who has been searching for his trademark form all tournament, has been keeping his mind fresh with the Peak District air and pep talks from renowned sports psychiatrist Steve Peters as he inches his way towards immortality.

The Rocket is trying to climb the biggest mountain of them all to win the 17-day marathon for an unprecedented eighth time. Snooker's biggest star, whose second session is this morning, said: "I'm lucky I've got Steve here just to try and keep my mind a little bit in shape, if you like.

"I mean I'm not sure I'd have come if it wasn't for Steve. Because he said, 'Look, I will help you through it', which he has done, so it's been great. It's been good. I probably need him with me all the time if I'm honest, but I can't afford him.

"So I get him here for this because it's a big tournament. I've really enjoyed this week because I've been staying near the Peak District. It's just been beautiful. I've only been coming here for my matches, so I've really had a nice time. It's been like a bit of a break."

O'Sullivan says this year's Crucible charge has been like "hell". Pitching up in Sheffield marked his return to the sport after a three-month hiatus where he was riddled with stage fright fears and self doubt in his performance after he snapped his cue in January.

It is a testament to the Rocket's mental resilience that he is now 31 frames away from lifting the treasured title once more. But he insisted: "I've probably played the worst snooker out of everybody this tournament and I am still in it.

"I'm trying to keep an open mind, but I'm not sure it will ever click again. That's probably being a bit negative, I suppose. But like I said, I'll give it two years. And if I don't see any improvement, then time to jack it in I suppose."

It was a high-quality first instalment of their four-frame session as O'Sullivan hit breaks of 86, 62 and 60 whilst Zhao, who broke the rail of a bottom corner pocket in the final frame, had runs of 82, 73, 64 and 60.