Ronnie O’Sullivan hails Chang Bingyu as Wuhan Open favourite ahead of semi-final clash

Despite ongoing struggles with his game, and a difficult start that saw him slip 2-0 behind, O’Sullivan made breaks of 87, 96, 72, 80, and 129 in defeating Mark Selby, 5-3, to reach the final four in Wuhan.

Set to be the 97th world ranking event semi-final of his illustrious career, O’Sullivan will face an opponent appearing in only his second.

A 24-year-old from China, Chang once again showed why he is one of the sport’s most exciting prospects as he crushed Judd Trump, 5-1, during the same afternoon session in the Far East.

Following his ban from the sport for his part in the Chinese player match-fixing scandal from a few seasons ago, Chang served his punishment and reclaimed his tour card in April 2025 by winning the Asia-Pacific Snooker Championship held in Australia.

Returning to the top flight only last season, Chang has already made an impact resulting in pundits tipping him for big things in the sport over the coming years.

He reached his maiden ranking event final at the Scottish Open last December, and within the space of eight months compiled three maximum 147 breaks - two of which came in the UK and World Championship qualifiers which earned him a bonus of £147,000.

At the Welsh Open last February, Chang received a standing ovation from the audience and his opponent Shaun Murphy after making four centuries in a 4-0 whitewash win, and finishing with a 100% pot success rate.

Already up to 45th in the world rankings - but projected to be much higher later this campaign with no prize money to defend - Chang has enjoyed a brilliant start to the new season by qualifying for several main venues, and is the top century break-maker with 19.

Why Ronnie O’Sullivan rates ‘dangerous’ Chang Bingyu

This sudden rise up the ranks will be no surprise to seven-times World Champion O’Sullivan, who previously singled out Chang before the ban.

Chang - who made a competitive maximum break at the age of just 14 - received praise from arguably the greatest snooker player of all-time when they met in the second round of the 2020 Scottish Open. O’Sullivan won that contest, 4-1, but in a post-match Eurosport interview, he said of his opponent: “I knew I was playing a very, very good player, he's super-talented. He's the nearest to someone like Judd (Trump) because he scores really quick. He's dangerous.

"He scores so quick. If you don't score quick you can never really be dangerous at this game. He's one of them - he gets on with it, bang bang bang, and before you know it he can reel three, four frames off.”

Last year, when appearing on Stephen Hendry’s Cuetips YouTube channel, O’Sullivan discussed standout talents on the World Snooker Tour, not only naming Wu Yize - who would win the World Championship later that season - but Chang, too. “I rate him quite a bit. Yeah, I really think he’s good” said The Rocket.

Chang is ‘up with’ World Champions says O’Sullivan

Just months on from that last comment, O’Sullivan meets Chang in a big semi-final showdown in Wuhan.

They have played each other twice before on snooker’s top flight; the aforementioned Scottish Open in 2020, and at last season’s Saudi Arabia Masters where O’Sullivan recovered from 5-2 down to oust his young peer, 6-5.

Speaking to the World Snooker Tour shortly after his quarter-final victory over Selby, O’Sullivan continued to hype up Chang, likening him to the sport’s last two World Champions, and labelling him as the favourite to lift the trophy in Wuhan this weekend.

"You have Zhao Xintong and Wu Yize, but this kid (Chang Bingyu) is up with them. Without a doubt” said O’Sullivan.

“He was storming through the season and I said to my mate I fancied him to win the event in Taiyuan. He got beat by Neil Robertson but anyone can lose a match.

“He's here in the semi-finals and maybe he is going to win a trophy. You probably have to say he is favourite to win the tournament."

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 Wuhan Open snooker, visit our tournament information centre here.