Ronnie O'Sullivan reveals his new superstar best friend he’s praying will make him a winner in snooker again

Snooker superstar Ronnie O'Sullivan has opened up on how his new friendship with Jackie Chan came around - and hopes meeting him for the first time can power him back into the winners' enclosure.

The Rocket declared earlier this campaign that he was 'finished' at the top table of the game despite lifting five major titles. The 48-year-old showed signs that the magic in his game was creeping back after competing in the International Championship, which came just days after he has given the green light for citizenship in Hong Kong. As a token of his respect, movie legend Chan gifted the Englishman flowers and ahead of his Champion of Champions bid, O'Sullivan revealed how their bond began and has blossomed.

He said: “We've spoken a few times on the phone. On FaceTime and things like that. We have friends. Jackie has friends in Hong Kong who are friends of mine. We've been in touch. It was the first time we've met. Lovely guy.”

O’Sullivan spends a lot of his time in China on business trips and even hosts his own exhibition events in the country. He added: The residency was offered to me and I thought it would be a good thing to have.

“I travel to China a lot, Hong Kong, Macau. I have a lot of business relationships with people in Macau and Hong Kong. I'm in and out quite a lot, have to spend time there. It made sense to make my life easier to become a Hong Kong resident. It just makes life a bit easier for me.”

O’Sullivan is in the fourth and final group, dubbed the group of death, alongside Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Xiao Guodong.

Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.

You can also follow our