Ben Woollaston is not convinced Si Jiahui is ready to win the World Snooker Championship and he will have to up his game to have a chance against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals.
Si got the better of Woollaston in the second round, coming through a lengthy scrap to win 13-10 and book a showdown with the Rocket.
Neither player was at their best in the last 16 contest and Woollaston did not feel like he was beaten by the world champion in waiting.
He did, however, rate Si’s safety game and could not fail to be impressed by his stunning long potting.
Asked if the 22-year-old is ready to life the trophy in Sheffield, the Englishman said: ‘I’m probably wrong but I don’t think so.
‘He’s hard to play, some of the balls he pots are just unbelievable. It felt like the whole match he went for so many and I can only remember a couple of times he left me in. I just thought, he can’t get away with so many every day.
‘His safety was actually better than a few of the Chinese players, I’d say. That’s probably why he’s done well here. Unless you’re [Zhao] Xintong, ridiculously special, over these matches you do need some safety game and he has got that.’
Woollaston was impressed with how Si seemed to get stronger at the business end of the contest, playing his best stuff when many would be hit by nerves at 10-10.
‘Against Ronnie, every day is different, but he will have to play better,’ Woollaston said. ‘But he was good from 10-all, I thought he’d be maybe edgy, but that was the strongest he played in the whole match.
‘That gives him a chance, if he gets better at the hardest time in the match, that’s a sign of a great player. He’s done well here three years in a row and he’s so young. The long potting is what I’ll remember, I think I can pot some silly balls, but he’s something else.
‘The frustrating thing for me was that tactically I was all over him the whole match, I just couldn’t convert my chances.’
Si has already established a brilliant Crucible pedigree, reaching the semi-finals on debut in 2023 and beating Mark Williams in his opening round last year.
Capable of mind-boggling potting, Si will be a threat to O’Sullivan having beaten him already this season, but he too knows he will have to improve.
‘It was tough, because neither of us played very well. It was exhausting — mainly mentally exhausting. In the end, I relied entirely on my willpower to win,’ said Si after his win over Woollaston, but before O’Sullivan had won his second round match over Pang Junxu.
‘I think I wanted to win too badly. I put too much pressure on myself, which made my performance worse. To be fair, my opponent was also playing in the last 16 at the Crucible for the first time, and he wasn’t playing very well either. Overall, both of us didn’t play to a high standard.
‘No matter who my next opponent is, I hope I can show my best level. That would make me very happy. If it’s Ronnie, I think I will feel much more relaxed mentally. Losing to him would be very normal — it wouldn’t be upsetting.
‘If my mindset is right, I’ll be able to play more freely and aggressively. I hope I can perform better in the next round.’
Steve Davis picked out Si as the ‘weakest performer’ of the quarter-finalists, but the Chinese star has the chance to turn all that around against the Rocket, starting at 2.30pm on Tuesday.