O'Sullivan and Zhao Xintong have a good relationship, and the "Rockets" will praise every time they talk about the Chinese youngster. Now, O'Sullivan has directly blown Zhao Xintong to the sky, believing that the latter can win 5-6 world championships as long as he plays 80% of his potential.
O'Sullivan and Zhao Xintong play in similar styles, one nicknamed "Rocket" and the other nicknamed "Tornado". For Zhao Xintong, O'Sullivan is very optimistic and often guides Chinese youngsters. Zhao Xintong previously said that during the World Championships, he and O'Sullivan ate hot pot together.
And O'Sullivan never hides his optimism about Zhao Xintong, "I think that as long as Zhao Xintong exerts 80% of his potential, he can win 5-6 world championships, for him, this will be a very easy thing!" ”
Objectively speaking, O'Sullivan's blowing up of Zhao Xintong is not expected.
After all, Zhao Xintong is 25 years old, but so far in his career, he has only won 2 ranking championships this season, namely the British Championship champion and the German Masters champion. Moreover, in the ongoing Snooker World Championship, Zhao Xintong is also participating in the second time, reaching the round of 16 for the first time, and he swept Clark 10-2 in the first round.
That is to say, Zhao Xintong did not have a prominent result in the World Championships, and the "rocket" directly blew Zhao Xintong into the sky, thinking that he could win 5-6 world championships.
Look at the performance of some legendary superstars at the World Championships, Hendry is the first person in history, winning the World Championship seven times, and Davis, Reilton and O'Sullivan are all six times. Higgins and Selby have won the World Championship four times, Mark Williams 3 times, and Trump and Neil Robertson have won the World Championship just once in their careers so far.
If Zhao Xintong can win 6 World Championships, he can directly compare with O'Sullivan, and the blowing method of "Rocket" is somewhat exaggerated. After all, Zhao Xintong only won 2 ranking championships.
Perhaps, Hendry's evaluation of Zhao Xintong is more pertinent, "I still don't understand why he didn't win the British Championship until he was 24 years old, because he has been working professionally for a long time." But now he's done it, he looks like he belongs here, and in the first round of the World Championships, he played too comfortably, too relaxed. He can easily break through, he can jump a level into the super lineup, and our process of following him will be fun. ”