Stephen Hendry playfully warned Wu Yize not to surpass eight World Snooker Championship titles after Ronnie O'Sullivan suggested the new world champion could eclipse their record. Wu claimed snooker's greatest prize on Monday, edging out Shaun Murphy 18-17 in a nail-biting Crucible final.
The Scotsman, who shares the record of seven World Championship titles with O'Sullivan, had been exchanging texts with the Rocket throughout the final and brought up their conversation when he sat down with Wu on the Snooker Club podcast following his triumph.
Hendry told the Chinese star: "Just one thing - do not win eight. Ok? Seven is ok. Ronnie said to me he thinks you can win eight," which left Wu chuckling. O'Sullivan has been a tremendous advocate for Wu and even played a part in his victory.
The snooker ace revealed he had been in contact with the Englishman at a pivotal point in his contest with Murphy. The 2005 world champion had built up a head of steam on Monday afternoon, reeling off five consecutive frames as Wu struggled after a promising 10-7 lead on Sunday.
Yet the champion rallied from his difficult spell to take the final three frames of the session. Wu disclosed on the podcast that advice from O'Sullivan proved instrumental in helping him regain his composure. He said: "At that time my goal was to extend the lead. I wasn't playing really that bad, but I wasn't focused to do what I do best. I went out to try to give myself some time to cool down. Ronnie texted me telling me to stay focused. To be calm and also to try to play to my own strengths. I was really happy I was able to do that."
Wu attributed his capacity to manage tense moments in the final to his previous training sessions with O'Sullivan. He added: "He taught me how to handle the situation during the match. How to handle the different situations on the table. It is definitely the experience that I have learned from him. I have benefitted from the time I've spent with him a lot."
O'Sullivan, 50, has long held faith in Wu's potential to dominate the snooker world and even forecast he'd achieve world champion status back in February. The Rocket stated: "I think Wu Yize is going to be world No.1 in the next three years, definitely world champion very soon. Phenomenal snooker player. 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, he has more cue power, more scoring power. But his positional play, for me, it's on the level of Steve Davis. Everything goes in the middle of the hole. I practised with him for two or three days in Hong Kong not long ago, and it's not until you practise with someone you can appreciate how good [they] are. After two days, I thought, 'This kid's really special.' I'd love to see him go and fulfil his potential as a professional. He's only 22. I expect him to do a lot of great things in snooker. It's important to have players you want to watch. I would watch him all day long."
Wu first broke into the world's top 16 rankings after defeating John Higgins to claim the International Championship last year. Securing the World Championship, only his second ranking title, is set to propel Wu to No. 4 in the world, just one spot behind fellow countryman Zhao Xintong.
