Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the last eight of the UK Championship in Preston last night and claimed: "I'm not playing well enough to win the title." His rivals, however, may have to scrape O'Sullivan off the table if they are to end his interest in the tournament.
"Every match for me from now on is going to be a battle," said O'Sullivan following a 9-4 fourthround victory over stablemate Gary Wilkinson.
"Snooker's the easiest game in the world when you're playing well and when I'm on song, I feel like I can toy with people.
"However, the way I felt before I came to Preston, I could easily have gone out in my first match. Now I don't care how I win as long as I win."
Despite his pessimism, O'Sullivan, the youngest winner of a ranking title when he defeated Stephen Hendry to win the 1993 UK Championship, easily brushed aside Wilkinson's challenge.
The Nottinghamshire professional was once ranked fifth in the world and is as gritty a competitor as they come. But O'Sullivan required only 90 minutes to turn a 5-3 overnight lead into an impressive success.
Three times he compiled half-century breaks to go with his 105 from Monday's first session, including a best of 89 in the 10th.
O'Sullivan, speaking as quickly as he pots balls, also insisted he had finished playing left-handed. "That was just a phase. It was never going to work in a million years," he said.
"When you're struggling, people want to see you lose. But that's what's kicking me on.
"I've achieved many things in this game that people would give their right arm for. In the future I want to be a multi-millionaire, win bundles of dosh and get lots of Ferraris. But I know I'm going to have to sweat and graft along the way."
O'Sullivan now plays 24-yearold Gerard Greene, from Kent, who earlier beat Bristol's Gary Ponting 9-6 to guarantee himself a cheque for £10,800 - easily the best of his career so far.
The quarter final line up was completed when Scotsman Martin Dziewialtowski the player with the longest surname in snooker, defeated Grimsby's Dean Reynolds 9-7. Dziewialtowski, the world No 116 from Glasgow, now meets Welshman Matthew Stevens for a place in the last four.
