Ronnie O'Sullivan sent a shiver down the spine of his opponents after winning his third 888.com World Championship final by insisting: "I can get even better".
The Rocket has been in awesome form during the past fortnight particularly in disposing of seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry 17-6 in the semi-finals.
And the 32-year-old, the oldest winner of the title since Joe Johnson in 1986, still demo
lished Ali Carter 18-8 in the final despite failing to fire on all cylinders.
O'Sullivan has become the fourth player to win the UK Championship and world titles in the same season and the first to regain the number one spot in the rankings for a third time.
But he is still striving for snooker perfection and would hang up his cue if he felt there was no room for improvement.
O'Sullivan said: "You've seen me hit form a few times this season, like against Stephen Maguire in the UK Championships. I've played a few good matches. I've been consistent.
"I wasn't totally happy with every performance I put in and you always have to work at your game. Tiger Woods and Roger Federer and people like that are always looking for that consistency to take the game to the next level.
"They can't get any better but you are just looking for that consistency so you can just grind your opponents down.
"It was fantastic to win this tournament, fantastic to be number one, fantastic to have won the UK. I've had a fantastic season. I've really enjoyed my snooker and ideally I'd love to keep playing.
"I want to be so perfect at this game. When I play like I did against Stephen Hendry, I think 'yes' – and then I have a struggle in the final and it seems like a bit of an anti-climax."
O'Sullivan admitted a couple of technical changes have helped him to maintain a level of consistency even if he is not playing to his maximum ability.
He said: "I changed a couple of things technically and I am not flying as much and there is more of a balance there."
The full article contains 366 words and appears in Sheffield Telegraph newspaper.
