Si Jiahui has booked his spot in the World Championship quarter-finals and waiting for him there will be Anthony McGill or Jack Lisowski, who will have the chance to be the first player to beat Si at the Crucible.
The debutant has been thoroughly impressive on his first trip to Crucible, upsetting Shaun Murphy 10-9 in his first match and then downing Robert Milkins 13-7 in his second.
It looks likely to be McGill next, with the Scot 11-5 up on Jackpot going into their final session of a race to 13, and Si has enjoyed himself against the Glaswegian in the past.
In the 20-year-old’s short career so far he has played McGill three times and won on all three occasions, twice scoring a 5-2 win in ranking events just last year.
No doubt that will give him some confidence if it is McGill he faces, but Si was playing down their one-sided history after beating Milkins.
‘The previous three times I don’t think Anthony played his best, that’s why I won,’ he said.
‘I won’t play him thinking I’m going to beat him, I’ll just play.’
He added, speaking to WST: ‘He has a very decent Crucible record. The only department of game I can compete against him is attacking because my safety is supposed to be the worst among the 32 players! I went for it and potted my way through to the quarter-finals.’
Lisowski could still recover and pull off an amazing win, but on the prospect of facing the Jackpot, Si was less open.
‘I don’t care who I play against, I just focus on myself and enjoy it,’ he said.
The newcomer at the Crucible is earning a lot of praise, including from first round opponent Murphy who tipped him as the first Chinese player to win the world title, but Si is staying very humble.
‘Thanks to Shaun for such nice words, but I know that in snooker, at a technical level, there are lots of far better Chinese players,’ he said.
The Sheffield-based star has admitted that he was surprised even to get to the Crucible, never mind reach the quarter-finals, but he is having a lot of fun on the shock run.
‘When I first stepped into the Crucible I felt very excited,’ he said. ‘I loved the crowd, loved the table conditions, everything is perfect. I’ve never played in such perfect conditions ever before, I’ve loved every minute.’
MORE : Rob Milkins rates Si Jiahui’s World Championship chances after second round defeat
MORE : Si Jiahui continues dream Crucible debut with comfortable Robert Milkins win
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