Ronnie O'Sullivan's quest for a first title of the season takes him to Belfast this week and the Rocket will be aiming to avoid any misfire against Long Zehuang of China in their Northern Ireland Open meeting.
O'Sullivan has been busy in the opening months of the season, despite the usual talk of a reduced schedule, with semi-finals appearances at the Shanghai Masters invitational event and the Xi'an Grand Prix and a quarter-final at the Saudi Arabia Masters.
Now he faces Zehuang in his Belfast opener, a first-ever meeting with the 66th ranked player in the world.
Ronnie O'Sullivan -1.5 frames @ 8/13
If we have learned one thing from the career of the Rocket, then surely it is to be sceptical when there is talk of retirement, frustration with the game itself or of his own perceived 'poor play'.
He is without doubt a snooker genius. The doubts are never far from the surface, but there is also a genuine school of thought as to whether O'Sullivan truly believes it when he talks of his own demise.
A mind trick to try and release the pressure on himself is more likely.
O'Sullivan declared he doesn't have long left in snooker after he suffered an 'embarrassing' defeat to the world number 64 He Guoqiang at the English Open last month.
"I haven't got long, I'm not going to deny it, I'm not playing well enough, there's no point in even worrying about it. I've just accepted it now which is quite a nice place to be really," he insisted.
That has been the hallmark of the second half of his career, in truth. Accepting his fate has allowed him to handle the defeats and, in so many ways, it has allowed him to turbo-charge to successes that probably eluded him when he was younger due to the immense pressure he piled on himself to be a perfect snooker player.
He hasn't won a title this season, but runs to the last-four in Shanghai and at the Xi'an Grand Prix, as well as the quarters in Riyadh, would be more than satisfactory for most mere mortals.
As the nights close in, snooker enters the meat of its season and it is now that we'll find out what O'Sullivan has left in the tank. It will probably be plenty.
In seven Northern Ireland Open appearances, he has only suffered one opening round reverse. That tally shouldn't be doubled here and it's worth taking the odds that he won't need a deciding frame to see off Zehuang.
Ronnie O'Sullivan to win 4-0 @ 4/1
While Zehuang is relatively fresh from his Wuhan Open semi-final appearance last month, where he lost 6-4 to Xiao Guodong after leading 4-1, there is the inevitable conundrum of how to view his first-ever meeting with O'Sullivan.
Playing against The Goat brings its own challenges and facing him in a televised clash in Belfast adds some spice.
Many a good player has frozen in front of the headlights when facing O'Sullivan for the first time and, if the veteran makes a quick start, this could all be over quite quickly.
Match Centuries Under 0.5 @ 5/4
Fireworks may be absent in this opening round clash - O'Sullivan's last 22 frames played have not yielded any ton-plus contributions from the Rocket.
Zehuang, meanwhile, has made one century in three matches since his Wuhan Open semi-final loss.
That came in the Northern Ireland Open qualifier win over Sanderson Lam but, all in, his last 22 frames have produced only one century break.
With his nerves likely to be a factor against this opponent, and O'Sullivan himself more likely to be workmanlike than earth-shattering, odds of 5/4 for no century break could be generous in this short race.
Read more snooker betting tips and predictions.
Ronnie O'Sullivan - 3/10
Long Zehuang - 5/2
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.