Jimmy White names three Chinese snooker stars who could be next Ronnie O'Sullivan and 'Class of 92'

The 62-year-old Londoner - who earlier in the week compiled a maximum 147 break on his way to winning a pro-am tournament - was asked questions about the sport in a sit down interview with the media.

Thailand's James Wattana and Hong Kong's Fu were the first players from Asia to make a big impact on the professional snooker circuit - both trailblazers won multiple ranking events and were top 16 exponents for several years. Wattana and Fu also reached the one-table set-up (semi-finals) at the Crucible Theatre in the World Championship, but neither quite managed to get to snooker's biggest fixture. Fu still plys his trade on the top tier.

In 2005, an 18-year-old Ding Junhui stunned the world as he defeated Stephen Hendry in the final on home soil to win the China Open - a day in snooker prosperity that helped spark a huge boom for the sport within China and surrounding areas.

Ding has gone on to enjoy an illustrious career, winning three UK Championships, the Masters, and 15 ranking titles in total - including his latest one this season at the International Championship in Nanjing.

At the time of writing, Ding has compiled seven 147 breaks in professional competition and was the first Asian player in snooker history to become the world number one.

'The Dragon' also made history by becoming the first cueist from Asia to reach the World Snooker Championship final, a feat he achieved in 2016, although he was denied the blue riband prize by Mark Selby who regained the crown he first won two years earlier with victory over Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final.

Since then, Ding, nor any Asian player has featured in the final at the Crucible. However, Asian representation within snooker’s top echelons has never been stronger, and within the last decade, nine new ranking event winners from the continent have emerged, and Chinese champions were crowned at the UK Championship and Masters.

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With the 2025 World Championship around the corner, White was asked his opinion on whether we will soon see a Chinese world champion and how significant that would be to the sport.

The 10-time ranking event winner replied by saying: "For me, obviously I've been around forever and snooker started in Hong Kong with the Asian players.

“You've now got three top players, you've got Si Jiahui, Wu Yize and Zhao Xintong - who's back playing in the World Championships (Zhao) - them three players could be the next Ronnie O'Sullivan, John Higgins, Mark Williams, the 92, you've got three top players.

“Obviously, the first Chinese player might have been Marco Fu or Ding Junhui, but the standard is so good now, there's every chance that a Chinese player can win the World Championship for sure, good chance, yeah.”

Si, Wu and Zhao are all set to play at the World Championship next month.

A semi-finalist at the Crucible two years ago on his debut, 22-year-old Si is likely to be in the top 16 of the world rankings when the tournament comes around, and will therefore be a seeded player at the Crucible for the first time. Last year in Sheffield, qualifier Si defeated an in-form Mark Williams in the opening round before bowing out to Jak Jones in the last 16.

It has been an inconsistent season for Si, although he made the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters and reached his second ranking event final at the Wuhan Open, where he eliminated world number one Judd Trump in the semi-finals, compiling a 147 en route.

For 21-year-old Wu, it has been a breakthrough campaign, as he got to his first two ranking event finals at the English Open and Scottish Open. Both Si and Wu are in the top 16 on the one-year (seasonal) list, meaning they will feature at the upcoming Players Championship in Telford.

As for 2021 UK Champion Zhao, he will be back on the World Snooker Tour full-time from next season, having served his ban from the sport and requalified for the professional circuit through winning the Q Tour rankings.

But those three won’t be the only Chinese players in contention for the Crucible crown. Both Ding and Zhang Anda appear certain to be seeds in Sheffield, while Xiao Guodong - who has had an amazing season in which he won his maiden ranking title - is well placed to be in the top 16 at that point too.

Pang Junxu, Yuan Sijun and Xu Si have all featured at the business end of tournaments this season, while 21-year-old Lei Peifan became one of professional snooker's unlikeliest champions ever as he defeated compatriot Wu in the final to win the Scottish Open in December.