Ronnie O'Sullivan offered an insight into his retirement plans after thrashing Ali Carter in his first match at the World Snooker Championship. The Rocket produced a dazzling display to secure a 10-4 victory over his old rival and reach the second round at the Crucible. He looked close to his brilliant best despite having not played a competitive match since January.

Carter had done well to reduce his deficit to just one frame by the end of Tuesday's opening session, but was no match for O'Sullivan when the match resumed. The seven-time world champion made his superiority count with a string of century breaks, with Carter unable to hit back. He wrapped up the match with a 131 clearance to ensure his progression into the next round.

Speaking to BBC Sport afterwards, O'Sullivan revealed that he could play on for another five or six years if he keeps performing well at the table.

"This game has a way of humbling you in so many ways, where you might go a year of two years when your game isn't there and doubt creeps in," he said.

"This one is probably the hardest of all. I want to play as long as I can. If everything went great, I could probably get five or six years. If it doesn't, I'll commit to one or two years and give myself the opportunity to finish on a nice feeling."

Reflecting on the match, the 49-year-old insisted that he was free of nerves despite ending his three-month hiatus on the biggest stage of all.

"I had no expectations so there were no nerves," he explained. "I didn't expect to perform well based on the last three or four years. I just wanted to make a game of it.

"Ali had his chances yesterday. On another day he would be 6-3 up [after the first session], and again today he had a couple of chances. I cued a lot better than I did yesterday.

"I have some mental tools to work with to keep things tight. I will always tinker but it's about when to let go, I suppose. It ground me down. This game has a way of humbling you.

"I lost the buzz for the game. When you are not able to play the shots, I was having to bail out on a lot, I didn't have any range. I'm just trying to work my way back, rediscover some touch and feel."

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