Ronnie O’Sullivan is full of praise for rising Chinese star Wu Yize, backing him to become world champion and world number one in the near future.
The 22-year-old has made swift progress in the professional game, turning pro in 2021 as a teenager and already setting up camp in the world’s top 16.
Wu made a big climb up the rankings this season thanks to winning his first ranking title at the International Championship in November, beating John Higgins in the final.
He has since made his Masters debut, where he beat Shaun Murphy and Xiao Guodong on his way to the semis, losing out 6-5 to eventual champion Kyren Wilson.
O’Sullivan has seen enough of Wu to be convinced he is heading right to the pinnacle of snooker, having practiced with him in Hong Kong ahead of his International Championship win last year.
The Rocket is a fan of the stylish, attacking talent on and off the table and hopes to see him continue to shine.
‘If I like them I pass knowledge on. If I don’t they don’t get two minutes of my time,’ O’Sullivan told World Snooker Tour. ‘I choose the ones I feel a bit of a connection to.
‘I think Wu Yize is gong to be world number one, I’d give him three years, definitely going to be world champion very, very soon, phenomenal player.’
Both Higgins and Murphy have recently compared Wu to three-time Masters champion Paul Hunter, who tragically died at just 27 years old in 2006.
O’Sullivan, though, makes a more surprising comparison, saying Wu reminds him of the legendary six-time world champ Steve Davis.
‘A lot of people liken him to Paul Hunter but I think he’s more like a modern-day Steve Davis,’ said the Rocket.
‘He’s more dynamic, more cue power, more aggressive, has more scoring power but his positional play for me is on the level of Steve Davis, everything always goes in the middle of the hole.
‘I practiced with him for two or three days in Hong Kong not long ago and it’s not until you practice with someone that you can really appreciate how good they are. After day two I was like, this kid is really special.
‘I’d just love to go and see him fulfil his potential as a professional. He’s only 22. I expect him to do a lot of great things in snooker.’
O’Sullivan added: ‘It’s important to have players that you like to watch and he’s definitely one of the players that I’d watch all day long. Never get bored or tired of watching him play, a phenomenal talent. Snooker’s very lucky to have someone like that coming in, so young, so good, great character.’
Both O’Sullivan and Wu are in Hong Kong this week for the World Grand Prix, where the former takes on Joe O’Connor and the latter meets Anthony McGill in the opening round.
The Rocket is struggling for form and results of late, losing to Ali Carter in the second round of the German Masters last week, which followed an opening round defeat at the UK Championship and withdrawal from the Masters.
Happy to be here. Love Hong Kong, good tournament. Hopefully I can play a bit better than I did last week,’ he said.
Asked what the secret is to finding form, he said: ‘I don’t really know. The secret is there is no secret, you’ve just got to go out there and play and if the snooker gods are shining on you then hopefully you get the result.
‘I’ve had a lot of senses before where I didn’t think my game was there and still went and won tournaments so my senses are never really that good. Just try and ignore the negative thoughts, focus on past experiences, know that I’m capable, I’ve just got to play well.’
World Grand Prix first round draw and schedule
Tuesday February 3
5am (UK time)
Zhou Yuelong vs Stephen Maguire
Xiao Guodong vs Kyren Wilson
Elliot Slessor vs Stuart Bingham
Mark Selby vs Aaron Hill
11am
Wu Yize vs Anthony McGill
Jack Lisowski vs Chang Bingyu
Barry Hawkins vs Ding Junhui
Mark Williams vs Zhang Anda
Wednesday February 4
5am
Neil Robertson vs Jak Jones
Gary Wilson vs Si Jiahui
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Joe O’Connor
Chris Wakelin vs Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
11am
Mark Allen vs Ali Carter
Judd Trump vs Yuan Sijun
Shaun Murphy vs Pang Junxu
John Higgins vs Zhao Xintong
