Ronnie O’Sullivan heaps praise on rival: ‘Like playing Hendry in his prime’

Ronnie O’Sullivan has been blown away by Kyren Wilson’s level of play of late, comparing the world number two to Stephen Hendry in his pomp.

Wilson has started the season in style by winning the Shanghai Masters, downing the Rocket in the quarter-finals.

The Warrior went on to beat reigning world champion Zhao Xintong in the semis and then Ali Carter in a brilliant final.

Wilson made breaks of 58, 72, 75, 111, 91, 83 and 109 in his 6-3 win over O’Sullivan in Shanghai and the Rocket was thoroughly impressed.

‘I got completely hammered by Kyren,’ O’Sullivan told TNT Sports at this week’s Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters.

‘To see him play the way he’s playing, he is the motivation for a lot of players at the moment to try and get to that level.

‘He’s so strong, so so strong. It was a bit like playing Hendry in his prime, a bit like playing John Higgins in his prime.

‘He’s got that similar sort of game, he plays the right shot committed. Very good safety player, great temperament, great bottle, scores very well… he’s got the all-round game really.

‘He’s definitely the yardstick, not that I can compete with him as he’s got 18 years on me, but he’s definitely someone who can motivate you and you can learn from him and try and put it into your own game.’

Both O’Sullivan and Wilson won their opening games in Jeddah on Tuesday, although they were very different contests.

The Rocket demolished Joe O’Connor 5-0, while the Warrior needed to win the last three frames to edge past Ukrainian teenager Iulian Boiko 5-4.

O’Sullivan now faces Chang Bingyu in the last 16 on Wednesday, while Wilson takes on Si Jiahui.

The seven-time world champion is looking to improve on a very disappointing season last time round and does look good early in the campaign, playing with a new cue made for him by fellow professional Sunny Akani.

The Rocket snapped his old cue in January as he became so frustrated with his game and joked that he could smash one of his new ones just to get his hands on more of Akani’s ‘unbelievable’ creations.

‘I felt I played ok,’ O’Sullivan told WST after whitewashing O’Connor. ‘It’s alright playing well in one match but you’ve got to put it all together for a whole tournament. That’s what I was used to doing, so that’s what I would like to do again.

‘I’ve got a good cue here. Sunny’s made me this one, which is great. So I asked Sunny to make a couple more, because you think it might be a fluke if he makes a good one, but he has given me three or four which are all great. I’m like, I might smash this one just to get another one!

‘Making cues is like being an engineer with wood – I wouldn’t have a clue but Sunny is a very intelligent guy and makes unbelievable cues.’

The 49-year-old cut a frustrated figure last season, struggling with his game and then skipping a number of events before returning for the World Championship, where he reached the semi-finals.

He is beginning to enjoy his game again, which he feels is key, before he can really focus on trying to win tournaments again.

‘For me, after having such poor playing form, it’s more important to play well and have some good matches one after another,’ he told WST. ‘I’d be really happy with that.

‘Once I get that bit then I start wanting to win tournaments and sacrificing not playing so great. I know you can’t play well al the time but it would be nice to get into the flow of putting good matches together and then once you can do that you can think about winning ugly for a few matches to get some trophies.’

The draw opened up a touch for the likes of O’Sullivan and Wilson with a couple of notable upsets on Tuesday, most surprising being Judd Trump’s defeat to Oliver Lines.

The defending champion was beaten 5-3 in his opening contest in Jeddah, with Lines booking a last 16 clash with Ali Carter.

John Higgins was downed by Elliot Slessor, while Mark Allen lost to Chang Bingyu as the Chinese talent secured a clash with the Rocket.

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