‘SCARY’ ZHAO’S SET TO RULE THE WORLD
He’s got it all says O’Sullivan
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN says Zhao Xintong’s stunning UK Championship success can be a springboard to becoming the best player in the world.
Zhao ‘did a Rocket’ by claiming the second-biggest title in the sport when he overcame Belgium’s Luca Brecel 10-5 in Sunday’s York final.
O’Sullivan, 46, won the event in 1993, beating Stephen Hendry to announce himself on the world stage.
And the record seventime UK champion, right, said of the 24-year-old from China: “Some players can be robotic but Zhao is a real natural, raw talent not even at his peak yet.
“With bottle and ability, potentially within a year, 18 months or two years, Zhao will be the best player in the world.
“There is no player on the circuit that has the complete game like him. He is like Steve Davis but with Jimmy White’s talent. Very, very scary.
“He is like Roger Federer in tennis, he is that good.” Former UK champion White said: “Xintong is magic, he’s like Ronnie, he makes the game look so easy. His natural instinct is to pot every ball on the table.”
Snooker bosses believe the latest Chinese triumph needs to be a big wake-up call for the UK.
Zhao and Masters champion Yan Bingtao, 21, hold two of the big three titles in the game with no one of that ability in the same age range in Britain.
WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson said: “I would never like to say that we will not produce any champions without some proper funding from Sport England – but there will be less of them.
“There is a direct link between the huge investment of public money into grassroots snooker in China and the current success and standard of players produced.
“There is a huge age gap between some of the older UK players and the new talent coming through.”