Ronnie O'Sullivan admits he was not expecting Stuart Bingham to show the levels he did during his quarter-final exit at the World Snooker Championship.
The Rocket's aim of winning a record-breaking eighth title at the Crucible was ended by the 2015 champion on Wednesday evening.
O'Sullivan had eased through the first two rounds of the tournament against Jackson Page and Ryan Day.
The exit of world No 2 Judd Trump appeared to open the draw up and give him a great chance of winning again in Sheffield.
Ronnie O'Sullivan admits he was surprised by Stuart Bingham at the World Snooker Championship
Eurosport
But Bingham was on top of his game and gave O'Sullivan a much tougher test.
Bingham squeezed past Jack Lisowski in a tight encounter in the second round and O'Sullivan admitted he didn't play that well.
The 48-year-old admits he was surprised by the consistency Bingham showed in the quarter-final.
O'Sullivan told Eurosport: "I was surprised he played that well for that long.
"I looked at the Jack Lisowski match and someone said he had three breaks over 50 in the whole match.
"I thought that’s not good scoring, so for him to win a match like that was fantastic.
"After the barren spell he has been having it was impressive."
O'Sullivan was pleased with how he played at the Crucible despite not achieving his ultimate aim.
He added: "It was a good tournament. I felt like I cued better at this tournament than I have done for two years, so that is a real plus for going forward.
"It was not the victory I would have wanted, that is just the way it goes sometimes.
"You just have to suck it all up and move onto the next one and get ready."
O'Sullivan has been open in saying he will limit the amount of tournaments he enters.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan was beaten 13-9 by Stuart Bingham in the World Snooker Championship semi-final
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He has challenged organisers to make him the best offer to convince him to play in their events.
"It’s first come first served. I’m already signed up for eight or nine events [next season]," he said.
"If I do really badly in them I suppose I might have to dip my toe in and play in a couple of tournaments over here, but otherwise probably not because I just want to be at home.
"There’s only so many days I allow myself to be away from home. You can’t do it all, really.
Ronnie O'Sullivan was pleased with how he played at the World Snooker Championship
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"I don’t just turn up willy-nilly to events. There’s a tax to be paid.
"If people are prepared to pay it then I’ll get me cue out my case, if they’re not I’m quite content to never ever play again and move on and do other stuff."
