Five-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan believes he is still able to compete at the highest level because snooker's next generation is "so bad".
O'Sullivan, 44, made the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship with a 13-10 win over Ding Junhui on Sunday.
He will face another veteran, 45-year-old Mark Williams, in the last eight and explained their longevity was an indictment of the future of the sport.
O'Sullivan was asked if he could have imagined when breaking through in the 1990s that he would still be contending for world titles at this stage.
He told BBC Sport: "Probably, if you asked me then, no. But when you look at the standard of play, I would say yes.
"People like me and John [Higgins] and Mark, if you look at the younger players coming through, they are not that good really.
Ronnie O'Sullivan equals Stephen Hendry's record of Crucible quarter-finals #ilovesnooker @Betfred pic.twitter.com/Kkfeg9QnX1
— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) August 9, 2020
"Most of them would probably do well as half-decent amateurs, do you know what I'm saying? Not even amateurs... they are so bad!
"A lot of them that you see now, you look at them and think, 'Oh, I've probably got to lose an arm and a leg to fall out of the top 50.' Do you know what I mean?
"That is probably why we are still hovering around, because of just how poor it is down that end."
