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Ronnie O’Sullivan was beaten by Jack Lisowski in the third round of the International Championship in China, and the snooker icon’s plans now he’s been dumped out have been revealed
Despite being knocked out of the International Championship, snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan is remaining in Nanjing to mentor 14-year-old prodigy Michal Szubarczyk. The 49-year-old was defeated by Jack Lisowski in the third round of the tournament in the Far East.
O’Sullivan lost a black ball decider in the final frame against Lisowski, who recently clinched his first major ranking title at the Northern Ireland Open. Despite missing several opportunities to secure a quarter-final spot against Barry Hawkins, O’Sullivan chose to stay in China and offer guidance to young Szubarczyk, who is shaping up to be one of the most promising talents since O’Sullivan himself.
The teenager is currently the youngest professional player on the World Snooker Tour and has already made waves in his debut season.
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Victoria Shi from Sheffield’s Victoria’s Snooker Academy shared a photo of O’Sullivan coaching the young star, reports the Express.
Before earning his tour card with a run to the final of an open age event, Szubarczyk had won the European Under-16 and Under-18 Championships.
After watching him play, Mark Williams likened the youngster to O’Sullivan, who remains the youngest player ever to win a ranking event, having claimed the UK Championship in 1993 when he was just 17 years and 358 days old.
In an interview with the Metro back in March, Williams revealed: “I was in Turkey watching the Europeans, I watched a young boy there and came back and told everyone in the club that this is one of the best 14-year-olds I’ve ever seen in my life. Up there with O’Sullivan. Maybe not as good, but not far away.
“Every time I watched him he was knocking in 80s, 90s, 100s. It was frightening. I was speaking to John Higgins up in Telford and said: ‘Watch out for this kid, it’s something I haven’t seen for donkey’s!'”
Meanwhile, snooker legend O’Sullivan has previously expressed his willingness to mentor budding players.
The Rocket told the Metro: “I’d love to help out and try and get some of the grassroots in the UK going and take some players under my wing. Try and re-establish ourselves as a top snooker nation.”
When quizzed if anyone has ever sought his advice, he responded: “No, no one, really. Yeah… no one, really.
“Victoria [Shi] reached out to me, she always does to help a player. You need to spend time on a table with someone to really be able to help them properly.
“So no one’s come, but I always offer advice to some of the players, not mentioning any names, but because I like them and I want to see them do well.
“And I just think it’s always handy to have someone that’s been there done it and can pass on a bit of good advice, you know?”
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