RONNIE O'SULLIVAN left old rival Ali Carter “embarrassed” after storming to a 10-4 win in the first round of the World Snooker Championship.
Rocket, 49, was in devastating form as he capitalised on his 5-4 overnight lead to rattle off five straight frames and reach the second round at the Crucible.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was in blistering form as he breezed past 'embarrassed' rival Ali Carter on Wednesdaywasn't even sure if he'd enter the tournament after pulling out of a host of tournaments this year.
But the legend fired a warning to his rivals as he looked unplayable on Wednesday.
Speaking to the BBC after the loss, said: “I was always in it at 5-4, but Ronnie got going.
“I kept finding myself in awkward positions, and it went from bad to worse.
“It begins to get a bit embarrassing, but against the best of all time it is not easy. He was the much better player today.
“It's not the end [to the season] I wanted, but Ronnie is the hardest first-round draw, the one no-one wants to play.”
Crucible legend Stephen Hendry even suggested O'Sullivan's killer instinct is still very much there.
The Scot said: “He's been out of the game for a while, you wonder if he is still going to be as good at close matches out – here's your answer.
“The first sniff of winning the match and it's done.”
O'Sullivan himself was just happy to make it through unscathed.
He said: “I had no expectations so there were no nerves.
“I didn't expect to perform well based on the last three or four years. I just wanted to make a game of it.
“Ali had his chances yesterday, on another day he would be 6-3 up [after the first session], and again today he had a couple of chances. I cued a lot better than I did yesterday.
“I have some mental tools to work with to keep things tight, I will always tinker, but it's about when to let go I suppose.”
On his recent struggles, O'Sullivan admitted: “It ground me down, this game has a way of humbling you.
“I lost the buzz for the game, when you are not able to play the shots, I was having to bail out on a lot, I didn't have any range.
“I'm just trying to work my way back, rediscover some touch and feel.”
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Eze Chidiebere Paul
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