RONNIE O'SULLIVAN has been slammed for strong comments about Daniel Wells that the Welsh amateur says could damage a player's mental health.
Last week at the Welsh Open the Rocket, world No1 and reigning and seven-time world champion, singled out the 34-year-old Wells for a broadside.
O'Sullivan, 47, claimed Wells - who fell off tour two years ago - should stick to being a part-time player, would never win a tournament and lacked the mental strength to succeed.
But almost immediately Neath's Wells, who may well regain his pro card for next season, scored a huge shock win over former world champion and reigning Masters king Judd Trump.
O'Sullivan had said: "He's never going to be a tournament winner. He's just not good enough.
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"He should just stay as a part-time player. There's a lot of players on tour who can't mentally sustain it.
"If I was advising him I'd tell him to stay as a part-time player."
Wells said: "It was quite upsetting to hear someone who's been one of my heroes saying those things about me.
"There's a lot of talk about mental health in sport and comments like these are really tough to take for people.
"I'm quite strong as a person and I'll deal with it but other people might not be as strong.
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"I missed a few events during Covid, which I got. I was ranked 52 in the world just before the pandemic.
"The pandemic really did affect me and sadly I fell off the tour."
