O'Sullivan said that he was guiding Zhao Xintong, but could not help Yan Bingtao! Still respect Ding Junhui. At the 2022 Snooker Welsh Open, China's Ding Junhui lost 2-4 to "Rocket" O'Sullivan, missing the round of 16, while Ding Junhui has suffered seven consecutive defeats against O'Sullivan. Ding Junhui's state this season is very poor, the best result of the ranking competition is only the third round, the world ranking has fallen out of the top 30, although Ding Junhui's state has recently rebounded, but it is still unable to face O'Sullivan for a few rounds.
Although Ding Junhui's performance was not very good, O'Sullivan still gave a high evaluation to Ding Junhui after the game, O'Sullivan said that Ding Junhui is Malone Brando in the eyes of Chinese players, everyone respects Ding Junhui, so he does not need to prove himself, but we all hope that he can return to the top. Then O'Sullivan also talked about the 2016 World Championship final, O'Sullivan said that when Ding Junhui lost to Selby, many people questioned whether Ding Junhui had the ability to win the World Championship, in fact, his play in that game has been very good, did not collapse because of backwardness, and finally lost, if you can grasp the situation, you may get the World Championship. O'Sullivan also knows that every time Ding Junhui loses a game, he will bear a lot of doubts, so O'Sullivan will take the initiative to stand up and help Ding Junhui speak, which shows that O'Sullivan really respects Ding Junhui.
Later, O'Sullivan also talked about Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao, two young generals, and gave a completely different evaluation. O'Sullivan revealed that he was mentoring Zhao Xintong and praised Zhao Xintong for his high talent, some things that he could learn in a moment, while he himself spent a full two years at the time. O'Sullivan said he was very satisfied with Zhao Xintong's performance and praised Zhao Xintong as a special player, so he was willing to take the time to guide Zhao Xintong and help Zhao Xintong cash in on his talent. Later, O'Sullivan also said that Zhao Xintong's safety ball is still very good, but if Zhao Xintong can use it well, then the shot will be more reasonable, as long as it is learned, it will become more powerful. O'Sullivan said that the reason why he was willing to help Zhao Xintong was to experience what he had experienced in that year.
Speaking about Yan Bingtao, O'Sullivan said that he could not help Yan Bingtao because Yan Bingtao and he were two different players. In the end, O'Sullivan said that it is really good to be able to pass on his skills, which is what he should do, and he hopes to help other players grow faster. I have to say that O'Sullivan really takes good care of Zhao Xintong, and has praised Zhao Xintong more than once in public, it seems that O'Sullivan has regarded Zhao Xintong as his own closed disciple, hoping that Zhao Xintong can achieve good results in the future.