He wasn't just on fire in the UK Open, that was an exceptional performance that is at pace with the general advancement of pool at the elite level. The level of play is through the roof these days - while the 30 and 40k winners pots for some of the tournaments might seem small in comparison to some other minor sports, there is enough money out there in winnings (and more importantly sponsorship) for the top players to drive their games to another level. The fact that top snooker players are having a go at these tournaments and trying to prove themselves is testament to that.