Ronnie O'Sullivan admitted cueing problems left him scared of playing snooker after he advanced to his 150th ranking quarter-final at the World Open in China.
O’Sullivan has spent time away from competition to rebuild his game and technique, and the hard work paid off with an impressive 5-3 victory over Shaun Murphy in Yushan.
"If I can get my cue through the ball I will be alright," O’Sullivan was quoted as saying on the World Snooker Tour website.
"It doesn’t matter whether I win or lose. I am able to do that now.
"It has been torturous to be honest with you. It has been really hard work.
"For me, just going out there and playing is a victory. Whether I win or lose is irrelevant. For me to be able to go out there and not feel scared is a victory.
"I am happy to go out there and feel that if I get a chance I might do something.
"Before I was thinking, 'please don’t miss, don’t let me on the table’. This is what was going through my head."
The 50-year-old has chosen to adopt a limited calendar for the 2026 season.
O’Sullivan will meet Welshman Ryan Day in his first quarter-final appearance since making the final of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters last August.
"Shaun has been playing unbelievably. He has been so strong," said the seven-time world champion, who made frame-winning breaks of 70, 76, 89, 96 and 121, having trailed 2-1.
"I was happy when I got to 2-2. I thought at least I’ve been involved in a game against a top-quality player. To win is even better."
Mark Allen was in superb form as he reached the quarter-finals by dismantling Zhou Yuelong 5-0 and will meet Wu Yize in the last eight after his 5-2 win over Kyren Wilson.
The Antrim man began with a break of 129 and followed it up with two half-centuries.
He sealed the match by edging two scrappy frames, much to the disappointment of the home crowd.
World number one Judd Trump put together closing runs of 106, 77 and 94 to beat Robbie Williams 5-2 and will next play Hossein Vafaei, who prevailed 5-4 against Zhang Anda on the final black.
Gary Wilson made century breaks of 100, 104 and 107 to overcome world champion Zhao Xintong 5-2.
