Ronnie O’Sullivan comments designed to add pressure, reckons Mark Allen

Mark Allen is sceptical of Ronnie O’Sullivan’s praise (Picture: Getty Images) Mark Allen feels the praise Ronnie O’Sullivan gives other players is often designed to pile pressure on them. Allen got his Players Championship campaign off to a good start on Tuesday with a 6-3 win over Wu Yize in Telford. Wu has been a standout performer this season, winning the International Championship and reaching the Masters semi-finals on debut at Alexandra Palace. The 22-year-old has caught O’Sullivan’s eye, with the seven-time world champion tipping the young Chinese star for the top. ‘I think Wu Yize is gong to be world number one, I’d give him three years, definitely going to be world champion very, very soon, phenomenal player,’ O’Sullivan told WST at the recent World Grand Prix. ‘A lot of people liken him to Paul Hunter but I think he’s more like a modern-day Steve Davis. He’s more dynamic, more cue power, more aggressive, has more scoring power but his positional play for me is on the level of Steve Davis, everything always goes in the middle of the hole. ‘I practiced with him for two or three days in Hong Kong not long ago and it’s not until you practice with someone that you can really appreciate how good they are. After day two I was like, this kid is really special. Wu Yize is arguably the brightest young talent in snooker (Picture: Getty Images) ‘I’d just love to go and see him fulfil his potential as a professional. He’s only 22. I expect him to do a lot of great things in snooker.’ Allen is sceptical about O’Sullivan’s motivation, pointing out the 50-year-old has talked up promising talents before and they have not fulfilled their potential. ‘I’d rather just let the kid play,’ said Allen. ‘He’s still so young, don’t put any more pressure on him than some are already doing. ‘I think Ronnie’s very clever in the sense that if he sees a threat then he’ll talk you up and then add more pressure. ‘He did it with [Stephen] Maguire I remember years ago saying he was going to be the world number one and look what happened there. ‘Even Ding [Junhui], he obviously did well for a while…but it’s interesting comments.’ O’Sullivan famously told Maguire after a heavy defeat to the Scot at the 2004 UK Championship: ‘If you keep going like this, you’ll rule the game for 10 years.’ Ronnie O’Sullivan has been fulsome in his praise of Wu (Picture: Getty Images) The Rocket has gone a bit further than just praising Wu, having practiced with him ahead of his International Championship win this season. ‘I was practising quite a bit with Wu Yize in Hong Kong before the tournament that he won,’ said O’Sullivan in November. ‘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.’ Wu Yize beat John Higgins to win the International Championship in November (Picture: Getty Images) Allen is a fan of Wu, but feels he needs to add facets to his game, like most young players making their way up the rankings. Players Championship Snooker draw, how to watch both tables, prize money and odds The curious relationship between the Players Championship and World Snooker Championship John Virgo cause of death revealed as his widow Rosie pays emotional tribute ‘I think he needs to maybe round his game a little more. I didn’t play brilliant there and still won comfortably,’ Allen said after his win in Telford. ‘I think, where he’s at the minute with his game is, that if those long ones aren’t going in and he’s not making big breaks, he becomes quite easy to play against. ‘But he’s great for the game in the sense that when they are going in, he’s one of the best in the sport to watch. He scores so fast and he plays the way everyone probably wants to play. But on your bad days, they can make you look a bit silly.’ Allen takes on either Mark Selby or Jack Lisowski in the quarter-finals in Telford. Arrow MORE: Players Championship Snooker draw, how to watch both tables, prize money and odds Arrow MORE: The curious relationship between the Players Championship and World Snooker Championship Arrow MORE: Katie Shanahan’s unique path to fronting new-look snooker coverage on Channel 5 Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source Football Newsletter – In The Mixer Punchy analysis, transfer talk and more from Metro's football experts, sent straight to your inbox every week.

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