Mark Selby gave an honest assessment of Ronnie O'Sullivan after whitewashing the seven-time world champion 6-0 at the Players Championship.
O'Sullivan last defeat in a ranking event proper had come at the International Championship in China, where 'The Rocket' lost a thrilling final 9-6 to home hero Zhang Anda.
His run of form since then had seen him scoop the UK Championship, Masters and World Grand Prix titles.
And he produced a 6-2 win over Zhou Yuelong to kickstart his Players Championship campaign, including a break of 136 in the seventh frame.
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That set up a clash against four-time world champion Selby, with 'The Jester from Leicester' turning the form book on its head.
Selby won the match in under two hours, with a century break of 101 his highest contribution as well as another break of 91.
O'Sullivan did miss several opportunities during the match, but Selby dominated the contest overall and left 'The Rocket' with no answers.
Selby told Metro earlier in the week that he believed O'Sullivan had not been playing 'at the top of his game in a lot of tournaments' this year despite his run of form.
It is an assessment that O'Sullivan has at times publicly agreed with after his matches - and he could not match Selby in Telford.
In the last frame of the contest, Selby accidentally played a snooker on the final red, telling ITV that he overscrewed too much on a previous shot which cost him perfect position on the black.
He gave an honest assessment of why he did not play for the snooker, showing respect for O'Sullivan in the process: "Ronnie, you don't have to say anything about Ronnie, he's the greatest of all time.
"But if I'd have landed perfectly on the black to play on the red and then refused it, and played the snooker, even little signs like that. I know I'm 5-0 up, but Ronnie might think, 'He doesn't fancy it'.
"If you aren't going to go for it at 5-0 up, then when are you going to go for it?"
Selby will now face the winner of the match between Zhang Anda and John Higgins in the semi-finals of the tournament, as he looks to win his first ranking event of the 2023/24 season.
Topics: Snooker, Ronnie OSullivan
Ryan Smart