Ronnie O'Sullivan moved a step closer to a career-defining eighth Crucible crown by beating Si Jiahui 13-9 to reach the semi-finals of the Halo World Championship, where he will face an opponent he describes as a "fantastic talent."
Si briefly threatened a fight-back in the closing stages but could never get closer than two frames behind, and O'Sullivan eventually pulled away to clinch the result and reach the last four at the Crucible for a record-extending 14th time. He has played well so far only in patches and may face a tougher test next against Zhao Xintong, who has reached this stage for the first time. They will compete over a possible 33 frames, starting on Thursday at 1pm.
"I got lucky again. I have tried to give it my best and I am just hanging in there," insisted 49-year-old O'Sullivan, who is level with Stephen Hendry on seven world titles. "I have relied on other people to win and that doesn't feel good for me. I always feel better when I force the opening and put the pressure on my opponents. You feel a lot better when you've won the match rather than they've lost it. Look at Judd Trump, Mark Williams and Zhao, I won't be able to get away with this standard.
"Zhao is an amazing, brilliant player, a fantastic talent who will only get better. But it takes more than talent to win this, you need steeliness. You are going to come up against someone really tough in the semis and final. You have got to stand up to the best players, so whether he can do that remains to be seen."
Trailing 10-6 going into the concluding session, China's Si took the first two frames tonight to halve his deficit. And he had first chance in frame 19 but ran out of position on 28 and O'Sullivan punished him by slotting in a long red to set up a break of 82.
Si's run of 58 helped him narrow the gap to 11-9 at the interval, and he had opportunities in frame 21, missing a red along the top cushion when he led 54-9. O'Sullivan later drilled the penultimate red along a side cushion into a a top corner, his best shot of the match, to set up a 36 clearance. In the 22nd, Si was on 43 when he missed the brown to a baulk corner, and O'Sullivan wrapped up the tie with a cool 74.
Making a record 33rd consecutive appearance at the Crucible, world number five O'Sullivan is into the 94th ranking event semi-final of his career, and is chasing a 42nd ranking title and first since the World Grand Prix 15 months ago.
He added: "Si cued better towards the end of the second session and looked dangerous. He potted some good balls but he was a bit unlucky a couple of times and showed a bit of inexperience. Maybe in two years he would have won those frames, but I was able to steal them.
"I have struggled for the last four years and enjoyed the game less, that's why I took a break. Now I am trying to play through it see where takes me. I am just grinding it out. I have had some work done on my cue today and I am probably going to have to try and get a new ferrule and tip because it feels awful. I'm playing awful and the cue feels awful so it is the worst situation to be in as a snooker player. I don't think I can get any worse."