Ronnie O'Sullivan: I fell asleep during match

It certainly seemed to help the five-times world champion as he looked wide awake in his 4-1 win over Michael White on Thursday evening that secured him a place in the quarter-finals contributing breaks of 92 and 75 to progress with ease.

O'Sullivan admitted he is exhausted having won the UK Championship for a sixth time on Sunday to equal Steve Davis' record, and plans to continue to conk out when the mood takes him.

It certainly brings new meaning to needing the rest in snooker.

"I'm totally out for the count," said O'Sullivan, who shut his eyes after moving 2-1 clear of world number 36 Li in the afternoon session at the Emirates Arena.

"I'm zonked out. It is really nice. I'm not one of them that needs to fake it to make it," said O'Sullivan, who is chasing a fourth ranking event win of the season to go with his English Open, Shanghai Masters and UK victories.

"If I need to sleep, I will sleep. You can only get yourself in the best possible place. If you need a quick five or ten minutes, you've got to have it.

"I was really struggling so I had to catch a few winks from when the frame finishes to when the frame starts. I managed to get 15 minutes in five frames. It is a power nap.

"My doctor told me to get as much rest as possible. I've been doing it, and I'm going to make a habit of it. I call it rest.

"The power nap takes a while to kick in, but it did me good. If I need the kick, I'll have the snooze. Snooze or you lose.

"I'll sleep anywhere, back of cars or on trains. I'm quite an expert on that as I had insomnia, and was surviving off two or three hours a night."

O'Sullivan, 42, will face old rival John Higgins or Ashley Hugill on Friday night for a place in the semi-finals.