Si Jiahui has continued his stunning Crucible debut by beating Anthony McGill 13-12 in the quarter-finals in Sheffield in a nail-biting late night deciding frame.
The 20-year-old had to win three matches just to qualify for the Crucible and has added McGill to his growing list of scalps, which includes Ali Carter and Neil Robertson from the last two rounds.
Si has never been to a semi-final of any professional event before, with the McGill match only his second ever quarter-final.
The Chinese sensation books his place in the final four to play Luca Brecel in an incredibly unlikely semi-final after the Belgian Bullet beat Ronnie O’Sullivan earlier in the day.
‘Credit to Si, incredible, 20 years old,’ McGill told the BBC. ‘I remember when I was 20, in my first season and he’s here at the Crucible, tremendous.
‘I didn’t deserve to win. The standard I played was atrocious the whole game, it was so bad. I was just embarrassed because I was thinking everyone in there had paid their money to watch. I just missed so many balls. I didn’t deserve it, I might have got away with it in the end, but I certainly didn’t deserve it.’
Speaking through a translator, Si said: ‘I kept it tight and kept my nerves under control, just pushed through it. I held myself together very well at the end.’
The other semi sees Mark Selby take on Mark Allen in a heavyweight contest as the former has won two titles already this season and the latter claiming three.
Si made a fabulous start to his first ever Crucible quarter-final, opening up a 4-1 lead early on, with breaks of 106, 65 and 58 involved.
McGill levelled up at 4-4, though, and the match remained tight from there right until a deciding 25th frame.
There was not great quality on show for much of the contest, although McGill forced the decider beautifully by knocking in a break of 130 when he needed to show his brilliant best.
He couldn’t quite get over the line, though, with Si doing enough in a predictably nervy decider to make it into the semis.
MORE : Mark Selby powers past John Higgins to set up Mark Allen World Championship semi-final
MORE : Ronnie O’Sullivan reflects on ‘marvellous’ season after World Championship exit
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