Ronnie O'Sullivan reached the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open today but continued to insist that playing well - rather than just winning - is most important to him.
'Maybe I'm a perfectionist compared to most people, but I need to reach the heights. There's no point playing if I don't,' said O'Sullivan, after cruising past Leicester's Mark Selby 5-1.
O'Sullivan has embarked on a two-year plan to revamp his game and revealed that the motivation behind his decision was a series of sessions in which he has felt 'totally lost'.
One of those melt-downs came in the semi-finals of last year's World Championship when, in the third session, he lost all eight frames to Graeme Dott and was eventually beaten 17-11.
'It was horrible to feel like that in the heat of battle. I couldn't make 20 - and it hurt,' admitted O'Sullivan.
'The thought that I'm capable of playing so badly makes me feel like going on anti-depressants. It was embarrassing at the end - and it was the same in Malta a couple of weeks ago.'
O'Sullivan, who lost 5-3 to Michael Holt in his opening match at the Malta Cup, has decided to try and eliminate such horror performances by seeking the advice of Frank Adamson - a coach from Bristol who has worked with several top players, including last year's Welsh Open champion Stephen Lee.
'I can't afford to go to the [world championships at the] Crucible, just hoping that my game is there. I need to do something about it and try to look for consistency. There's a lot of work ahead,' said O'Sullivan.
The twice world champion added: 'Results, money and trophies are important - but they aren't the reason I want to play well.
'When you do start to flow and hit the ball well it's a tremendous feeling and what it's all about. As long as it feels comfortable and easy, I'll be here. When it goes I'll turn it in.'
O'Sullivan did not give the impression of being a player in crisis against Selby, who scored so heavily en route to beating Matthew Stevens 5-1 in the last 32.
By potting a difficult, long, straight pink and following up by nonchalantly sinking the black left-handed, O'Sullivan stole the first frame; he then made a 70 break in the second and led 3-1 at the mid-session interval.
O'Sullivan, attempting to capture the Welsh Open title for the third time in four years, needed only 20 minutes after the re-start to rattle through the next two frames with breaks of 100 and 80.
He now meets either Australia's Neil Robertson or Stephen Hendry.
In December, O'Sullivan walked out of the Barbican Centre in York when trailing Hendry 4-1 in a best-of-17-frame UK Championship quarter-final - and he could yet face disciplinary action from the sport's governing body, the WPBSA.
