World Snooker Championship 2024: 'Sky is the limit' - Jimmy White and Alan McManus lavish praise on Si Jiahui

ByAlex Livie

Updated 23/04/2024 at 18:45 GMT

Si Jiahui moved into the second round of the World Snooker Championship with a win over Mark Williams. After seeing Williams battle back, Si held his nerve to make 77 in the final frame. Alan McManus and Jimmy White analysed the performance for Eurosport, and were hugely impressed. Stream top snooker action, including the World Snooker Championship, live on Eurosport and discovery+

Jimmy White and Alan McManus were hugely impressed with how Si Jiahui held his nerve to see off Mark Williams in a deciding frame of their first-round encounter at the World Championship.

Si won four frames on the spin to assume control of the clash, but saw Williams rally to force a deciding frame.

In the decider, Si held his nerve to close out victory with a brilliant break of 77.

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Si is comfortable at the Crucible - he reached the semi-finals 12 months ago - and White feels that now he has added a safety game to his armoury he can be extremely dangerous.

“He loves the pressure,” White said in the Eurosport studio. “It was a fantastic break in the last frame.

“The first four frames he won all of them, he did that as well in the qualifiers. He was 4-0 down and won 10 on the spin. He goes on these bursts.

"He has such fantastic technique. As he is going along, he has a safety game. He did not have a safety game last year.”

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White feels Si needs to have greater control of the cue ball when in close.

“He is such a great potter,” White said. “He pots these mid-range balls all the time.

“When he’s in the balls, the easy stuff he makes it difficult, and the difficult stuff easy. But what a player.

“That last frame, the way he held himself together, he has plenty of mettle.”

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McManus was also impressed, as he said: “The quality was excellent.

“Myself and Jimmy have suggested already this week that the sky is the limit for this guy.

“Jimmy is correct, it is not if, it is when he refines his game and he is going to be a handful.”

Williams punches his cue after missed red

Williams had positive words for Si following his loss.

“I take my hat off to him,” Williams told Eurosport. “It is one of the best 70-odds you are going to see.

“He has potential to be a world champion, no question. If he can knock in breaks like that one in the last frame a bit more consistently then he can beat anybody.”

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