Ronnie O'Sullivan took a pot-shot at himself despite progressing to the last 16 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix on Tuesday.
The world champion and world number one hit back from two frames down to beat Chinese cueman Liang Wenbo 5-2 at this season's £502,100 tournament.
But the 2004 Grand Prix champion was unhappy with the way he played at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
O'Sullivan reflected: ‘I was rubbish, that was an embarrassing performance. I've played rubbish all season.
‘My season has been error-ridden, but luckily people keep missing against me. It's making me look good.
‘I've always been stubborn and I hate losing, but I'm capable of worse than that, I was so bad.
‘When I win I'm chuffed to bits, but I've not played well for a long time.’
Wenbo won two scrappy opening frames to edge into a welcome lead, but the Rocket finally raised his game to win five successive frames to progress.
The three-time world champion now plays Marco Fu, the defending champion, in a repeat of last season's final. The pair face each other in the next phase on Thursday afternoon.
O'Sullivan continued: ‘At 2-0 I just thought everyone must have been thinking that I wanted to go home, it was embarrassing.
‘They probably thought I didn't want to win and I'd booked my flight home.
‘I thought I could get accused of throwing this game. But, thank God, it only lasted for two and a half frames.’
O'Sullivan managed a top break of 103 and two other runs of 56, while Wenbo's best effort was just 31.
In the other afternoon match, Ali Carter - who O'Sullivan beat in last season's World Championship final in Sheffield - held his nerve to beat Stoke qualifier Dave Harold 5-4 in their first round meeting.
The Tiptree professional fought back from 3-1 down to triumph despite a high break of 61, his only effort over 50 in the entire match.
Harold, runner-up at this season's Northern Ireland Trophy in Belfast, compiled breaks of 95, 104 and 89, but admitted he had a ‘bad kick’ in the deciding frame as he bowed out at the first hurdle.
Carter said: ‘It was a very tough match. Dave played very well, he had some good breaks, so it was nice to win.
‘I'm hoping to enjoy my snooker this season, get into the top four in the rankings and win some cash.’
In the evening games, world number three Shaun Murphy was beaten 5-3 by Adrian Gunnell, while veteran John Parrot defeated Adam King, also 5-3.
