Si Jiahui was ‘disappointed, but not very disappointed’ after his remarkable defeat to Luca Brecel in the World Snooker Championship semi-finals, losing 11 frames on the spin as his commanding lead slipped away.
The 20-year-old debutant was continuing his fine form in Sheffield as he built a 14-5 lead over the Belgian, but things went downhill quickly from there on in.
The Bullet claimed 11 on the trot, Si stopped the rot, but Brecel got over the line to win 17-15 and progress to his first World Championship final.
It was superb snooker from Brecel to reel off all those frames, and Si had a lot of praise for his opponent, although also admitted that he started to see the winning line and that may have impacted his game.
‘Today in the last session the mindset has changed a little bit. I really wanted to win and I started feeling really nervous. I couldn’t get going,’ he said.
‘It was disappointing. My hand was a little bit cold for some time. I felt under pressure, so it was unfortunate.
‘I am disappointed, but not very disappointed because my opponent played really well, nearly perfect snooker in the last two sessions.
‘Luca played so well, brilliantly. I tried my best to keep calm in the chair, I made a break in the last frame I won. I tried my best, I have no regrets.
‘I’ve gained massive experience from this event and I will improve on my weaknesses, my safety will get better, but continue to play attacking snooker.’
The Chinese sensation produced a lot of impressive attacking snooker to reach the semis, beating Shaun Murphy, Rob Milkins and Anthony McGill, and Ronnie O’Sullivan was certainly impressed.
‘I think he’s got a great balanced game, he plays good safety, brilliant potter, brilliant break-builder,’ the Rocket said on Eurosport. ‘He doesn’t need to change his game, he’s very well suited for the professional game.’
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