Ronnie O'Sullivan's tactic which 'irritates' players has already been spotted by Stephen Hendry

Stephen Hendry has pointed out a subtle strategy employed by that seems to be unsettling his rivals during the .

During his quarter-final match against China's Si Jiahui, noticed use of an old chalk, after Si asked for white markings to be wiped off the table by the referee.

While most top snooker professionals have switched to a new type of chalk, there are still some players – like O'Sullivan and – who stick with the older version.

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These markings can lead to 'kicks', which is when the contact between the cue and object ball isn't perfect, often due to chalk residue making the balls dirty.

"I know it's an irritation all other players that Ronnie continues to use the old chalk. That does give bad contacts and bounces off the cushion," Hendry said on the .

"Luca Brecel, on the other table [versus Judd Trump] is the other player that still uses it. I know from speaking to other players, it does get very annoying because the table starts to play a bit heavier, kicks become a factor, cushions become unpredictable."

Although Taom chalk has largely eliminated 'kicks', O'Sullivan and Brecel continue to use the traditional triangle chalk found in snooker and pool halls across the UK, reports .

John Higgins also criticised O'Sullivan and Brecel for nearly costing him a spot in the quarter-finals due to their use of the chalk. The Scot managed to secure a 13-12 victory over Xiao Guodong in a deciding frame.

In a nail-biting penultimate frame of the match, Higgins was affected by what he believed was a 'kick', attributing the missed shot to leftover residue from another player’s chalk.

He said: "Do you know why I got a kick? Because Luca was on previously. Luca doesn't use the (Taom chalk)."

John Parrott, shocked, asked: "Have they not brushed the table?" Higgins then explained: "They brushed but it's still really messy. So it's difficult when you play guys like Ronnie and Luca and they're using the triangle chalk. It's a bit of a nightmare."

While Higgins' journey ended in the quarter-finals against Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan now faces his own challenge as he ended up trailing Zhao Xintong 12-4 after an 8-0 defeat in Friday's morning session, leaving him to work on his strategy for the 7pm session in the race to 17 frames.

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