Superglue saves snooker pro as cue snaps on flight

Matthew Selt said his cue was left "completely broken" after a long-haul flight to Saudi Arabia

A professional snooker player had to use superglue to hold his cue together after it snapped ahead of a major tournament.

Matthew Selt from Chelmsford realised his trusty cue of 10 years had been damaged during a flight to Saudi Arabia.

He employed a local carpenter to glue it back together ahead of his opening tie on 1 September.

"It sounds ridiculous but it was an incredible turn of events," Selt told BBC Essex.

The 39-year-old, who is ranked 33 in the world, managed to pocket an £11,000 prize after exiting the Saudi Arabia Masters in the fourth round.

It came despite trepidation his cue could break again at any moment, and the fact using a new one could throw him off his game.

Selt said using a new cue would have been "like starting again"

"Because every piece of wood has different characteristics, it’s quite hard to get used to a new one straight away – it’s not ideal," Selt said.

"I’ve been playing with this one for 10 years, I know exactly what it’s going to do and all the characteristics to deal with the dimensions.

"It sounds a little bit geeky, but [using a new cue] would be like starting again."

Selt said, upon picking up his luggage having landed in Riyadh, he could see the case carrying his cue was "clearly deformed".

He discovered it was "completely broken" and snapped in half towards the base.

Selt had offers of other cues but wanted to persist with using his tool of 10 years

Alongside his coach, Chris Henry, the snooker pro found a local carpenter who managed to glue it back together.

Despite the initial fear of how it would affect his performances, Selt said the tradesman's work did not let him down.

"The cue played very similar to how it did before it broke, albeit with a crack all the way through it," he added.