Beaten Rocket compares teen Yan to Hendry
Print Edition
BRITISH legend Ronnie “Rocket” O’Sullivan predicted a stellar future for teenager Yan Bingtao after he was stunned by the Chinese prodigy in the first round of the International Championship.
O’Sullivan, who triumphed at the English Open just over a week ago, failed to pot a ball in the last four frames as he lost 1-6 to the 17-year-old in Daqing, northeast China.
“Yan played fantastically well, maybe only Stephen Hendry and John Higgins have played that well against me before,” the 41-year-old O’Sullivan told worldsnooker.com, referring to the Scottish greats who have 11 world titles between them.
“I played well in Barnsley and I feel comfortable with my game, I just got outplayed today.
“I didn’t do that much wrong apart from missing a couple of balls.”
It was the most significant victory of the 53-ranked Yan’s fledgling career, and five-time world champion O’Sullivan added: “If Yan plays like that he’ll be very difficult to beat in this tournament, if he can play like that consistently he’ll win a lot of tournaments. He has an all-round game, a good temperament and he carries himself well. He has presence around the table and to be a champion you need to portray that image.
“All the great players won tournaments when they were 17 or 18 so if he’s going to be a great player then he’ll win one soon.”
O’Sullivan was allowed to wear trainers, as he did in Barnsley last week, because of an ankle injury, but added: “My foot is ok, I feel comfortable in these trainers, so I’ve no excuses.”
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