World Championship 2025: Ronnie O’Sullivan produces head-scratching performance in win over Si Jiahui in quarter-finals at The Crucible

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Ronnie O'Sullivan led Si Jiahui 10-6 heading into the evening session at The Crucible and he did enough to secure his place in the semi-finals despite being well short of his best. Si battled hard but had too much ground to make up. Watch and stream top snooker action, including the World Championship, live and on demand on TNT Sports and discovery+

'I could not imagine that' - Si's wild foul leads to epic ball replacement

Video credit: TNT Sports

Without finding his A-game, Ronnie O’Sullivan moved into the semi-finals of the World Championship with a 13-9 win over Si Jiahui.

After his second-round win over Pang Junxu, O’Sullivan told TNT Sports that he was "hanging on for dear life" in Sheffield, and that he expected to be "found out" as the level of play improved.

His play was at times scrappy, and he handed Si a raft of chances, but the Chinese player did not take them as O'Sullivan stamped his ticket to a 14th Crucible semi-final, 29 years on from his first.

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Up next is a clash with Zhao Xintong, who has breezed his way through the tournament.

O’Sullivan snatched the final frame of the afternoon session to ensure he returned in the evening with a four-frame advantage at 10-6.

It handed him a cushion, and stood him in good stead as Si took a scrappy opening frame of the evening to cut the deficit to three frames.

There were a couple of concerning misses for O’Sullivan fans in the 18th, and they allowed Si to take the frame and get within two of his opponent.

Two years ago, O’Sullivan led Luca Brecel 10-6 in the quarter-finals and did not win another frame. O’Sullivan ensured there would be no repeat as he took the 19th with a break of 82, but he needed a poor miss from his opponent to get to the table.

After being dominated in the opening session, Si kept pace with O’Sullivan and he kept himself firmly in the hunt by ensuring he took Wednesday evening’s first mini-session to cut the gap to two once again heading into the final interval.

'How about that' - O'Sullivan sinks stunning red to set up frame-winning chance

Video credit: TNT Sports

There were a series of alarming misses from O’Sullivan on Wednesday evening, and frame 21 featured a couple more.

But frame 21 also featured a shot-of-the-championship contender from ‘The Rocket’. With little seemingly on, he took on a red down the rail to the left corner and it found its target, which preceded a frame-winning break to take him within one of victory.

O’Sullivan picked Si’s pocket on a number of occasions during the match, and it was appropriate that he finished that way. A miss from Si saw O’Sullivan pick off a run of 74 to reach the semi-finals.

O'Sullivan and Zhao will begin their World Championship semi-final on Thursday afternoon, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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