Si Jiahui leads Brecel in Crucible semi-final while Allen puts heat on Selby
Chinese youngster Si Jiahui leads Luca Brecel 5-3 at the end of an intriguing first session of their world championship semi-final.
The 20-year-old, the first debutant to reach the last four since Andy Hicks in 1995, lost the first frame, but produced back-to-back clearances of 125, 102 and 97 to punish Brecel for errors with a near-faultless display of break building. However the Belgian, who beat seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last eight, scrapped his way back to 4-3 before succumbing in a nail-biting conclusion to the afternoon’s play.
In a scrappy start, Brecel enjoyed the benefit of an outrageous fluke when he rattled the pink in the jaws and saw the ball run the length of the table down the cushion before dropping in. He went on to make 50 before missing the blue off its spot although Si – the youngest semi-finalist at the tournament since O’Sullivan in 1996 – was unable to prevent him from going ahead.
However, the youngster announced himself in style in the second frame, sinking a tough red to get in before compiling an imperious 125 break. And he repeated the feat to take a 2-1 lead when, after Brecel had missed the yellow at 33-0, he cleared the table once again.
Si eased himself 3-1 in front at the mid-session interval after an armwrestle in the fourth frame with both players twice missing difficult reds to the middle pockets before he prevailed 103-29 courtesy of a break of 97. The world No 80 stuttered briefly, missing a regulation red as he applied right-hand side to the cue-ball in an effort to develop the pack after Brecel had erred once again, but eventually tied up an untidy fifth frame 103-3.
Si’s first error of note arrived in the next when, 53 points into another seemingly decisive break, he jawed the black to allow his opponent to the table, and Brecel’s break of 72 stopped the rot.
Having benefited from a mistake, Brecel handed it back almost immediately, following up a good long red
with a careless blue, but the Chinese player was equally profligate, leaving himself unable to see a colour as he attempted to develop the pack before taking seven attempts to hit the nominated brown. A second snooker and three more misses yielded 12 more points to leave the 28-year-old 38-33 ahead, and he eventually drew back to within one frame of his opponent with a visit of 69.
The final frame of the session unfolded with a sustained safety exchange, but it was Brecel who made the first move with a break of 33 before inexplicably missing the pink – although Si faltered at 43-34. Brecel then rattled a pink towards the top pocket which, had it gone in, would have levelled the match at 4-4, but it rolled agonisingly over left-middle, allowing the younger man to go two in front again.
Mark Allen finished the opening stanza of the other semi-final against
Mark Selby on a roll, winning the final three frames to lead 5-3 overnight.
A 123 clearance gave Selby the ideal start but uncharacteristic errors in the safety battles in the next two frames allowed his Northern Irish opponent to take control with breaks of 63 and 66. Selby missed a black off its spot in the fourth frame but still went into the mid-session interval level at 2-2 as it was Allen’s turn to fluff his lines in a tactical exchange.
A break of 68 moved Selby into the lead in an ebb-and-flow session and while Allen levelled, there was a hint of controversy when replays showed he grazed the red he was bridging over to make a tough pot. The referee did not spot the foul while Allen did not acknowledge it either so – with players so scrupulous in calling to attention any wrongdoing when they are at the table – the suggestion was the left-hander, who has won three ranking events this season, was oblivious to what he had done.
Selby did have a visit to the table thereafter but his rival’s break of 64 left him well adrift and Allen quickly wrapped up the frame. Allen then finished the session with breaks of 60 and 78 to seize the initiative.