Zhao Xintong has been urged to copy Judd Trump to avoid being “naive” at the snooker table.

Zhao’s potting ability was on full display at the Crucible, with Mark Williams hailing him as the best to ever do so, but Ken Doherty thinks that he could become even better by making some small alterations.

“I think he [Zhao] is the real deal,” Doherty told Gambling.com. “I think he could do anything he wants, as Stephen Hendry said, he can dominate the game.

“He [Xintong] is a little bit naive at times. He was sort of pushing the boat out and playing a lot of strange shots. He was desperate to get over the line, but he wanted to keep to his own philosophy of trying to go for the pots, no matter how difficult they were.

“It worked well for him, but in the shorter matches, he might struggle to find consistency.

“I think he needs to learn a little bit more ring-craft, like the way Judd Trump has changed his game a little bit, but still kept the most important things – like his long potting and his scoring power. Just adding new little dimensions or facets to his game.

“Once he adds those facets to his game, I think he will win a lot of tournaments and possibly another couple of world titles as well.”