Ronnie O'Sullivan breezed into the Tour Championship semi-finals after a 10-2 thrashing of his old rival Ali Carter in Manchester.
Needle and tension was expected in this latest showdown but instead O'Sullivan refused to speak about Carter in his pre-game interview and then let his potting do the talking.
Despite not managing a single century, he dominated from start to finish with nine 50+ breaks in a resounding triumph.
Carter was 7-0 down before he compiled breaks of 141 and 70 to get on the board either side of the session interval but this merely served to add a degree of respectability to the scoreline as O'Sullivan promptly wrapped up a 10-2 win.
O’Sullivan afterwards admitted his unhappiness about his game had prompted conversations with renowned psychiatrist Steve Peters.
“I’ve just decided I’m going to change my thinking and forget about trying to fathom my game out,” world number one O’Sullivan told ITV4. “If I change my thinking I can accept whatever is thrown at me and take whatever.
“It’s been a hard year, drove myself pretty much insane really. It’s just got to me. I decided to speak to Steve Peters, said I wasn’t happy.
“I had to go back to basics and get my head right. Deal with it because doing it the other way round isn’t working.
“I’ve got to accept that’s life. You can’t be perfect all the time and trying to be perfect all the time is not ideal.
“Just getting my head around it is the only option I’ve have left. I’ve driven myself mad for the last two years and not enjoyed any of it.”
Ding leads the way
Elsewhere, Zhang Anda and Gary Wilson will resume their quarter-final on Thursday level at 4-4, with the winner meeting O’Sullivan in the last four.
Wilson won two frames on the black to lead 3-1 before Zhang fought back strongly in an even contest.
Ding Junhui earned a 5-3 overnight lead against Mark Allen after winning a tight final frame.
