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Ronnie O'Sullivan has shown his commitment to nurturing snooker's future through his mentorship of the sport's emerging stars. Widely considered the finest player the game has ever produced, the 50-year-old boasts an unprecedented 41 ranking titles, amongst them seven world championships and eight Masters crowns.

As the sport welcomes a fresh wave of talent, O'Sullivan has established himself as an influential mentor to two players in particular - Zhao Xintong and Wu Yize. The Englishman suffered defeat in last year's World Snooker Championship semi-final at the hands of Zhao, who subsequently lifted the trophy after overcoming Mark Williams in the final.

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Following the decisive frame against the Rocket, Zhao, 29, exchanged words with his opponent before O'Sullivan disclosed the ongoing support he's provided to the Chinese sensation. He said: "I know we've got a really nice relationship, I'm always trying to help him if I can.

"He wanted the crowd to give me a clap at the end but it was Zhao's moment, I tried to get off as quickly as I could because it was his moment to enjoy." The 29-year-old confessed O'Sullivan is his hero and stunned observers by revealing he hadn't wanted to triumph in the match, preferring instead to witness the icon pursue his eighth world crown.

Zhao said: "I can't believe that. I need to say thank you to Ronnie because he has helped me a lot before. He's my idol. I've just tried to enjoy the Crucible. It's an amazing time for me and I just want to enjoy it because I don't know how many times it can happen here. I've played here and sometimes the crowd is helpful for Ronnie and he deserves that. He is a legend here so I needed to control myself. To be honest I didn't want to win this time because I wanted to see him win his eighth here.

"But I won and I know I needed to play well because before the match I didn't think I could win. I know he's a legend and everyone wanted him to win this tournament and I could feel that." 12 months after the duo displayed the utmost respect towards each other, O'Sullivan's impact - this time on Wu - was disclosed by the 22-year-old.

The Chinese prodigy reached the World Snooker Championship semi-finals for the first time after defeating Hossein Vafaei and thanked O'Sullivan for the encouragement he's provided him throughout his snooker career. Wu disclosed that the pair practised together before winning the International Championship last year. He said: "We met a few times during the practice. We messaged each other occasionally to talk about matches. I really appreciate his support."

Revealing the guidance he provided to Wu on achieving success, O'Sullivan said in November: "I was practising quite a bit with Wu Yize in Hong Kong before the tournament that he won. 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. He understood it.

"So it was good watching him play in China, we were chatting pretty much during and after every game. Just watching him understand and kind of go, 'OK, I get it.' And I was like, 'listen, it's up to you now. You've seen the difference. You can go back to playing the way you were or carry on how you was winning that tournament.

"But you've got to make that choice at the end of the day.'" He has clearly taken O'Sullivan's wisdom on board as he presently battles Mark Allen for a spot in the Crucible final, while Zhao was knocked out in the quarter-finals by Shaun Murphy.