“I’m not really thinking about my future, just that it’s a tough game,” said the former champion when asked if he had played in the final Crucible match.
Mark Williams, the three-time champion, confessed that he was unsure of his final World Snooker Championship match after being upsetly defeated 10–9 by Si Jiahui in the opening round. After making an unexpected run to the semi-finals the previous year, Si maintained his passion for the Crucible by defeating Williams in a titanic match.
Williams had a 5-4 lead when play resumed, but the 21-year-old Chinese player came out on top on Tuesday, winning all four of the first four frames to lead 8-5 at the mid-session break. After that, Williams won four of the following five to tie the match at nine and force a decider, which Si managed to win by a slim margin.
Williams acknowledged he did not know if a return to the Crucible was planned, but he seemed to rule out an early retirement. Si will take against Jak Jones in the second round.
In response to a question about his plans for next year, Williams answered, “Who knows? Next year, I will turn fifty. I enjoyed every second of it as I gazed about. I have no idea if I will return or not.
“It’s a difficult game; I’m not really thinking about my future.” It’s challenging that you keep returning to these locations. You simply have to approach the majority of them as though you won’t be returning for a time. I’m not quitting; I’m just living each day as if it were your last. I’m hoping to play again next year, but who knows.
Si got off to a lightning-fast start in the session, hitting the ball with more and more force as he put together a run of four frames with three breaks in the 60s.
Following the mid-session break, Williams started to rally, cutting his deficit to 8-7. After Williams fought his way to triumph in the next two frames to tie the match and force a deciding, Si recovered to win the following one with a composed performance. However, Si finished with a 77-run break to cap off an amazing victory.
“It was pretty close throughout the first half of the match; neither of us had great form,” he remarked. Later on, though, he offered me a lot more opportunities to give me the lead at 8–5. It went all the way to the final frame because my opponent was getting really, extremely accurate in the closing stages. I didn’t really feel the pressure because I always believed that I was the one attempting to defeat him, and that’s how I triumphed.
Mark Allen, the third-ranked player in the world, dominated Robbie Williams, winning 7-2. Allen took the opening three frames, but Williams, an Englishman, answered with a break of 86.
After winning a huge fifth frame, Allen increased his lead to 6-1. Three frames from victory, Allen made it 7-2 after his opponent won the next game with a century. Earlier in the day, Jack Lisowski defeated Ding Junhui, the 2016 finalist, 5–4, while Kyren Wilson advanced to the second round by defeating Welshman Dominic Dale 8–1.