Ronnie O'Sullivan has tipped one of the World Snooker Tour's top young players to achieve big things after a promising start to the 2025/26 season.
O'Sullivan hasn't played competitively since August, when he entered the Saudi Arabia Masters.
The 49-year-old, who now lives in Dubai, has operated on a part-time schedule this season but could make his return in the qualifying stage for the China Open next Monday.
But he has been keeping a watchful eye on results this season - with one player continuing to catch his eye.
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Halifax-born star Stan Moody, 19, progressed to the quarter-finals of the British Open last month, defeating both Kyren Wilson and Ali Carter on the way.
Moody won the WSF World Junior Championship in 2023 aged 16, earning himself a spot on the main tour.
And with the youngster having spent those past two seasons adapting himself to regular professional snooker, his game appears to be clicking together nicely this season.
Having never passed the third round in a ranking tournament before this season, Moody reached the fourth round of the Saudi Arabia Masters in August.
He then made it to the quarter-final of the Wuhan Open later that month before his British Open showings.
The 19-year-old has long been touted as a potential future star of the game, and 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy revealed in 2023 that Moody and his family had approached him to act as a mentor.
Having started the season ranked at number 64 in the world, Moody has jumped up 15 places to 49th.
Moving up one further spot would see him bypass the second qualifying round for the World Championship, which takes place in April.
Speaking to SPORTbible ahead of the launch of Pluto TV's new snooker-dedicated channel, Pluto Snooker 900, O'Sullivan spoke highly of Moody's talents.
While Snooker 900 - the new 15-minute, one-frame format with a 20-second shot clock - is targeted primarily at amateur players, British star Moody will no doubt serve as an example for any young players who dream of making it on the professional circuit.
O'Sullivan said: "He [Moody] is a great cueist. I played him once and I liked what I saw.
"He was very raw at the time, but there were a lot of things there that [made] you think, he's got all the stuff that you need.
"I've been watching his results. He was a very young boy when he first came on [the WST], and the last time I saw him, he looks like a young man.
"So he's kind of maturing into being an adult around the snooker table. He's still very young, but he's had some really good results this season."
It is not the first time that the seven-time world champion has praised Moody, who, like many snooker players, is based in West Yorkshire.
In 2024, he said (via Daily Express): "To see him so young, coming here and enjoying his snooker, you can see he really just loves the game and has an amazing temperament for it.
"You can imagine if he did find it hard he'd still find enjoyment in the game, you just get that impression."
Pluto Snooker 900, a brand-new snooker channel, launches exclusively on Pluto TV – the ad-supported free streaming service that features a wide variety of content - on Monday 6th October. The channel, which will initially broadcast 18 hours a week of live snooker, will be the first dedicated snooker channel of its kind and the new home of Snooker 900. To find out more, including how to sign up, click here.
The launch week will feature snooker legends like Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, and Michaela Tabb, marking a landmark moment for cue sports broadcasting. The channel, as in the original version, will also highlight games between women, juniors, and disabled players, offering a new and diverse content for all the snooker fans.
Topics: Ronnie OSullivan, Snooker
Ryan Smart