Martin Gould ripped up his retirement speech after cruising into the second round of the World Championship with a 10-3 victory over ninth seed Stephen Maguire.
The 38-year-old was all set to quit the game after enduring what he described as a "dark place" and also being far from certain of retaining his professional tour card for next season.
But after wrapping up a crushing win over recent Tour Championship winner Maguire, which included four centuries in the opening session, Gould revealed he will hold off on his decision to leave the sport.
Gould said: "It was all in my head – I knew exactly what I was going to say and there was going to be no changing my mind whatsoever.
"But now it's in the bin – I can get it back out if I need to, but hopefully that won’t be necessary. I loved it out there and that’s a big part of it for me.
"For about a year and a half I didn’t enjoy being out there, and when you’re not enjoying what you’ve loved doing for so many years it’s time to go and do something else."
The Pinner Potter @GouldyBalls147 is the final man through to the last 16 at the Crucible & for the first time since 2011!
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) August 5, 2020
There, he'll meet Kyren Wilson #ilovesnooker @Betfred pic.twitter.com/jaKCVC1BbA
Gould built his first win at the Crucible since 2011 on the back of a stunning opening session on Tuesday, and managed to scrabble over the line when play resumed.
Maguire’s only resistance came in the 12th frame when he looked set for a maximum after potting 12 reds and 12 blacks before running out of position, and Gould took the next to wrap up victory over one of the tournament’s strong contenders with half a session to spare.
Like Gould, 2013 finalist Barry Hawkins admitted the lockdown had come at a good time for his game after struggling for motivation in recent months.
Elsewhere, four-time winner John Higgins trailed Kurt Maflin 5-3 in their second-round match, while three-time champion Mark Williams leads 2015 champion Stuart Bingham by the same score.
