Wu Yize is into the World Snooker Championship semi-finals for a first time and has thanked Ronnie O’Sullivan for his support along the way.
The 22-year-old continues his rapid ascent to snooker superstardom with a first visit to the one-table set-up at the Crucible.
Playing as a top 16 seed for the first time in Sheffield, Wu has downed Lei Peifan, Mark Selby and Hossein Vafaei to reach the final four, where he takes on Mark Allen.
The Northern Irishman is far more experienced, but both players are bidding to reach their first World Championship final, so the pressure will be intense.
Wu turned professional as a 17-year-old and is already ranked number 10 in the world, having won his first ranking event at the International Championship this season.
O’Sullivan has taken notice of the young star’s progress and worked with Wu on the practice table ahead of that title-winning success in Nanjing.
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The Rocket has remained in Wu’s corner since, offering advice and support which the Crucible semi-finalist is very grateful for.
‘We met a few times during the practice,’ Wu said of O’Sullivan. ‘We messaged each other occasionally to talk about matches. I really appreciate his support.’
Speaking in November, O’Sullivan said: ‘I was practising quite a bit with Wu Yize in Hong Kong before the tournament that he won. I was just telling him certain areas of his game that I think he needs to improve on if he wants to be a winner.
‘If he wants to rely on playing brilliant and winning, then carry on doing what you’re doing, but if you want to be able to play OK and win, then there’s certain things that are just non-negotiable, you know? And I explained to him from my observations and what I thought they were.
‘He understood it. So it was good watching him play in China, we were chatting pretty much during and after every game. Just watching him understand and kind of go, “OK, I get it.”
‘And I was like, “listen, it’s up to you now. You’ve seen the difference. You can go back to playing the way you were or carry on how you was winning that tournament. But you’ve got to make that choice at the end of the day.”
‘That was the same when I worked with Ray Reardon, you know, he taught me a side of the game which I never really thought was that important. But having taken it on I started to appreciate the benefits that come of it.’
The Rocket has also labelled Wu a ‘modern-day Steve Davis’ and the youngster does appear to have already evolved from all-out-attack, impressing Mark Selby with his safety play in their last 16 meeting.
‘His long game was good and his safety was good,’ said the four-time world champion after a 13-11 defeat.
Wu himself felt he competed well in the tactical department against one of – if not the – best ever in that side of the game.
‘I’m very happy with my safety play,’ he said after beating Selby. ‘That definitely shows my growth.’
Potting and break-building remains his strength, though, with Vafaei saying it was like ‘playing against a PlayStation’ in their quarter-final meeting.
His clash with Allen is played over four sessions, starting at 7pm on Thursday.