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Ronnie O'Sullivan has admitted that he has taken snooker's hottest young prospect Wu Yize under his wing - and wants him to win the World Snooker Championship this year. The 22-year-old Chinese player has turned heads by storming through to the semi-finals at the Crucible.

Yize has defeated Lei Peifan, Mark Selby and Hossein Vafaei to reach the last four in Sheffield, where he now faces Mark Allen. It marks his first appearance at the World Championship as a seeded player, having claimed his maiden ranking title at the International Championship. His meteoric rise through the ranks has been championed by O'Sullivan, who is eager to nurture and guide the next generation of talent.

The Rocket was knocked out 13-12 by John Higgins in a thrilling Crucible encounter and is now backing Yize to emulate 2025 champion Zhao Xintong by lifting the trophy.

"I'd help any player. I help players I like. If I think they've got potential and I think I could guide him in the right way. A bit like what Ray [Reardon] done for me," O'Sullivan said.

"With Wu Yize. I said: 'I think you need to improve in this area. I'm convinced of that, if you don't I'm convinced you're just going to keep getting what you got. Do you want to be a champion?'

"And he was like: 'Yeah, yeah.' You might not want to do this, but if you want to be a champion, you're going to have to do this no matter how good you are because he's the phenomenal talent.

"It's been nice to see him take that on board and whether it's helped him or not, I don't know, but when he wins and does well, it makes me happy. If I felt like I could add that to a player, I would.

"Zhao Xintong is a great talent. I didn't spend a lot of time with him, but I think the time I did spend with him, I think I showed him what I thought he needed to work on. Whether he's done it or not, whether it's made him a better, I don't know, but you can just show people."

Yize is thrilled to have the backing of one of snooker's greatest ever players. "We met a few times during the practice," he said. "We messaged each other occasionally to talk about matches. I really appreciate his support."

The rising star has also drawn inspiration from Xintong, who became the first Chinese player to lift the World Championship last year. "To see a Chinese player winning last year definitely made me feel happy for him," he added. "I hope I could do that one day for myself. I'll definitely try my best. I have confidence in myself."

His ability is undeniable after he defeated four-time champion Selby and sailed to a 13-8 victory over Vafaei in the quarter-finals. "The guy was potting from everywhere. I lost four or five frames out of nowhere!" Vafaei told the BBC.

"That was from a shot to nothing, potting them and making 60-70 easily. It was tough, a very tough opponent. I didn't do much wrong, I think. My opponent was playing very well, it was like playing against a PlayStation."