World Snooker Championship 2023: Attacking play helps Si Jiahui secure lead over Luca Brecel after first session

Si Jiahui took the one-table set-up at the Crucible in his stride, as he dominated the opening session of his World Championship semi-final with Luca Brecel to take a 5-3 lead.

Both players are known for their attacking prowess, and each said before the contest that it would be a rapid-fire affair. Those did not prove to be empty words, as they delivered a feast of attacking snooker.

Si looked set to race away when taking a 4-1 lead and in the balls in the sixth, but a shocking missed black allowed Brecel a chance. The Belgian took two frames on the spin, but Si claimed the final frame to edge a 5-3 lead ahead of the second session on Friday.

Brecel did the chasing for two sessions in his win over Ronnie O’Sullivan so will not be fazed, but the match could hinge on whether Si suffers any nerves as the thought of a Crucible final appearance looms.

Si has appeared nerveless so far and he gave off the impression that was not likely to change any time soon given how he crunched in a long red to open the match.

Brecel got an outrageous fluke on a pink which went 12 feet down the table after failing to fall into the green pocket, but with the Belgian walking back to his seat he stopped to see it drop into the bottom right.

He raised his hand by way of an apology, but would have been inwardly delighted as it allowed him a settler in the contest. He made 50 before seeing a blue bounce out of the jaws of the left middle.

Safety play is not Si’s strong suit, and he left his opponent another chance when failing to get cover in the baulk area. Brecel knocked in a long red to seal the opening frame.

Si looked entirely unfazed by dropping behind, as he hit back immediately to level thanks to a stunning break of 125. His cue power in splitting the pack was a joy to behold, as was the way he developed a red welded to the right rail to set him up for his fifth century of the tournament.

The 20-year-old has a straightforward plan of attack: See ball, pot ball. Si pounced on an error from Brecel to get underway in the third and even when running out of position, he was entirely undeterred. On a break of 45, he came up short of his intended red. He assessed the situation, went for the extension on his cue and knocked a far tougher option into the heart of the bottom left. Later in the frame, faced with frame ball to the same pocket, he switched hands for the same outcome as the ball went in without touching the sides. It came as no surprise when the final black, which was far from easy, disappeared from view as he made it back-to-back centuries.

Fireworks were predicted, as both players view attack as the best form of defence. Brecel beat O’Sullivan in the previous round on the back of a blur of potting in the third session. He set about showing his prowess in the fourth, but could never get plumb position and eventually missed to left middle. It proved costly, as Si raced through a 97 to secure a lead at the first interval of the match, which the players went to after 63 minutes of potting-fuelled action.

Brecel did not miss in the final session against O’Sullivan, but he did in the first two. A simple miss with the rest allowed Si to get going in the fifth and while he did not close it out in one visit, the youngster got in again to extend his lead to three frames.

After a spell of virtually flawless snooker, Si proved he is fallible when missing a simple black off its spot on a break of 53 in the sixth. After being left chilly in his chair, Brecel stepped in to punish with a break of 72 to stem the tide.

The seventh saw the first bout of safety of the match, which came after Si was unfortunate to snooker himself when attempting to split the pack. The 20-year-old took seven shots to make the escape, and then found himself in a snooker and took four more attempts to extricate himself from trouble.

To rub salt into the wounds, Brecel snookered him again and an exasperated Si appeared to falter as he threw his cue at the escape. He hit a red, but left the table open for Brecel who picked off a 69 to win his second frame in a row.

For all the brilliant potting, two misses stood out from the session.

Si’s miss of the black in the sixth was matched by an aberration from Brecel in the concluding frame as he somehow missed a straight pink.

It looked like it may not prove costly, as both made further mistakes - with Si playing a shocking safety on the yellow as the frame boiled down to the colours.

Brecel picked off yellow and green without alarm but gradually ran out of position. He knocked in a stunning blue, but the pink did not drop and Si emerged from his chair to knock in the final two balls to edge a session in which he was the better player.

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