Ronnie O’Sullivan insists plenty of improvements can still be made to his game despite a dominant first-round performance in the Northern Ireland Open.

The Rocket needed just 45 minutes to get past Iran’s Soheil Vahedi in Belfast - making three century breaks en route to a thoroughly-dominant 4-0 win.

It was a performance in which O’Sullivan missed just five balls in four frames but, despite the near-perfect match, the five-time world champion is still eyeing up more.

“That was alright, I made a few mistakes and he had his chances - he just didn’t take them. Once you realise that you grow in confidence, but my game is still not fantastic,” he said.

“I’m scoring well and my B game is decent, I just keep picking up my wins when I can.

“There are still areas I can improve, I missed a few long balls and I know there is still room for improvement.

“By most people’s standards, they would be over the moon with that, but I have high expectations and standards and I don’t see why I should compromise that.”

O’Sullivan’s win was all the more impressive given he flew in to Belfast that morning, less than two days after beating Kyren Wilson in the Champion of Champions final.

Indeed he didn’t even pick up the cue before taking to the match table, a lack of practice that didn’t hamper him in the slightest.

Wilson was not quite so fortunate in his own first-round match, however, losing a final-frame decider in the Waterfront Hall - just 24 hours since losing to O’Sullivan in Coventry.

But O’Sullivan was keen to lend a sympathetic ear to his fellow professional.

“When you play a final, it’s such a big occasion and the adrenaline is high. And so to come and play the next day, it’s very hard to get yourself up for that,” he said.

“As a professional, you take pride in how you play and want to win every tournament, but off the back of that you’re at a massive disadvantage.

“You want to put on a good performance for the fans and it’s almost impossible when you’re in that situation.”

Watch the Northern Ireland Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Ronnie O’Sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds