Ronnie O’Sullivan has given high praise to two young snooker talents, comparing them to legendary players Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry.
The Rocket turned 50 this week and is still sitting pretty in the world’s top 10, along with his fellow veterans John Higgins and Mark Williams.
There is also a string of players over 40 years old in the top 16, with Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, Barry Hawkins and Gary Wilson all still going strong.
With older players still doing so well, questions are asked over where the young stars of snooker are, and they are legitimate concerns, but O’Sullivan has been impressed by some of the youngsters on tour.
The seven-time world champion spoke recently about practicing with 22-year-old Wu Yize ahead of his maiden ranking title win at the International Championship.
In a slightly surprising comparison, O’Sullivan likens the free-wheeling potter to the master tactician of the 1980s, Steve Davis.
Speaking on Stephen Hendry’s Cue Tips channel, the Rocket said of standout talents on tour: ‘I think Wu Yize, proper player, him.
‘He reminds me of a modern-day Steve Davis. Positional play. I practiced with him for three or four days in Hong Kong. After day two or three, I was thinking, “this kid, he’s got a gift.” Little shots round the black, he just always got perfect position, perfect lines naturally.
‘You [Hendry] was like that, obviously I watch you, he makes a difficult game quite easy sometimes.’
O’Sullivan also likes the look of the youngest professional in history, Poland’s 14-year-old wonderkid Michal Szubarczyk, who he spent some time with on the practice table in China.
‘He was on the practice table and I was just in there trying out some tips. I saw him practicing on his own and I spoke to his dad,’ said O’Sullivan.
‘Great talent, he reminds me of you [Hendry], that action was lovely, it was straight. He was very zoned in. He’s got a lot going for him.’
Catching Hendry’s eye has been 23-year-old Chang Bingyu, who O’Sullivan narrowly beat 6-5 at this season’s Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.
The Chinese talent beat Mark Allen to set up that clash with the Rocket and made a 147 in UK Championship qualifying last month.
‘He looks good. I played him in Saudi, I was lucky to beat him,’ O’Sullivan said of Change. ‘I rate him quite a bit. I really think he’s good.’
O’Sullivan has been on the professional tour since 1992 and feels it is as difficult as ever for youngsters to break through as the standard throughout the rankings is so good.
‘I think the standard now is just so high. I played Allan Taylor [at the International Championship]. He can play!’ O’Sullivan said. ‘He doesn’t look like he’s going to miss.
‘I looked at the rankings and he’s 90-odd in the world [currently #76]! I looked at the ranking list the other day and there wasn’t one player there I wanted to play, they’re all good! It’s tough now.’
