Ronnie O'Sullivan believes his protege Zhao Xintong will make it to the top of snooker - despite thrashing the Chinese star 6-1.
Zhao, who won the UK Championship last year, has been working on his game alongside world No.1 O'Sullivan and has been hailed as one of the brightest prospects in the sport.
But he had no answer to O'Sullivan on Thursday night, as the Brit cruised to a 6-1 victory at the Champion of Champions event. Zhao handed O'Sullivan the advantage with a string of unforced errors.
It was Zhao's debut in the competition and despite the heavy defeat, O'Sullivan is still expecting big things to come from the 25-year-old.
"He’s an amazing player, a brilliant talent and I’m sure he’s going to have an amazing future," O'Sullivan said.
"Hopefully he does because I’ve got a soft spot for him as well. Technically he’s brilliant. It’s all there, so hopefully he can fulfil a lot of his potential."
O'Sullivan's victory takes him through to the semi-finals against Fan Zhengyi as he goes in search of his fourth Champion of Champions title.
It is a repeat of this year's European Masters final and O'Sullivan concedes he needs to up his game in the coming weeks.
“I haven’t played really for five or six months after Sheffield, properly,” O’Sullivan added.
“Getting bits and pieces in. I’ve had so much work on, I’ve grabbed bits when I could. I haven’t really got going yet, so we’ll see.”
Judd Trump and Mark Selby will face off in the other semi-final in Bolton on Friday, before the final takes place on Sunday.
