On May 7, 2023, Beijing time, the famous billiards player Lao Fan conducted an exclusive interview with Si Jiahui. In Lao Fan's exclusive interview with Si Jia Hui, Si Jia Hui said that he began playing at the age of 11, and under the advice of a parent, Si Jia Hui gradually moved towards the professional track. And the reason why he can stick to the professional track is because he likes snooker very much. In addition, he revealed that there are no idols, but the contestant he admires the most is O'Sullivan. Talking about his World Championship journey, Jia Hui admitted that he likes very oppressive competitions, because as long as he plays well, the players on the scene will give him applause. He also hopes to improve his defensive ability in subsequent games.
Lao Fan: How long have you been playing?
Si Jia Hui: I started playing when I was 11 years old, almost 10 years ago. I had a short time from playing to professional practice, when I was about 10 years old when I saw billiards. Then I played for about three months or four months, and my dad signed me up for a class. I went to Shanghai to play a nine-ball game, and then there seemed to be a parent of professional practice talking to my father, and then said that there is a training base in Dongguan, Guangdong, to practice the closed kind of professional ball training. And my dad said, "Ah, I can check it out then." It seems that after reading it, I dropped out of my studies after practicing for a while, and I went directly to professional training, maybe I think I am very talented, and then I directly pulled it over to practice.
Lao Fan: Do you feel that you must be able to play?
Si Jia Hui: I didn't think about it so much at the time, but I did have that feeling halfway through, as if this thing was quite difficult, it felt like I was going the wrong way. But then he insisted on fighting it. Practice is very boring, that is, I feel that I have nothing to play, and I chat with those few people every day, and there is nothing. Occasionally, I might play for a day or two on the weekend, which is certainly not comparable to my peers, I think. It's staying in a small environment, staying in it every day, staying for four or five years, five or six years. I felt that it was better to read books then and now, that is, I think that there are many people who read, and many people play this together, and they can take a lot of vacation, unlike playing billiards and taking vacation, they have been practicing football competitions, going to fly a game, maybe you can go around the game to visit this, at most.
Lao Fan: Under what circumstances did you play your career?
Scarlett: Professional race? It is the one who entered Q school to get the professional qualification. The mentality at that time was to play and get to know, to experience the high level of the UK, and I wanted to give it a try. It turned out to be tried in. Then I felt as if I wasn't that powerful, as if I could break into the profession, as if I wasn't as good as I thought. It was like I was going to lose anyone I smoked, and I was fighting, hey, going to the quarterfinals and going to the quarterfinals, just that kind of amateur professional snooker game.
Old Fan: Do you have any stars you admire?
Scarlett: I think it's Ronnie who played well, O'Sullivan. However, in fact, there is no person I particularly admire in my heart, that is, I don't play because of anyone, nor do I particularly like this thing because of anyone, that is, I simply like to play. A lot of people ask me, who do you like? Whether it's Ding Junhui, whether it's O'Sullivan, whether it's Robertson, whether it's Higgins, I don't think it, I just like this sport. But I do appreciate Ronnie O'Sullivan a lot, just playing very dashingly. I may be a little bit like his style, but I didn't particularly imitate it, I just felt that I should play that way.
Lao Fan: Are you going to zoom in on the target?
Si Jiahui: If you try to play like the World Championships as much as possible, you feel that you may have to dare to fight and fight, and then fight without fear of anyone.
Lao Fan: Do you usually play so well?
Si Jia Hui: I don't usually play so well. It just might be exciting. Do you know? It's really exciting to be there. I feel excited. The Crucible site is small, but the atmosphere is exceptional. It's that feeling that as soon as you go in, the first time you hit it is really sitting down and your hands will tremble, it's not the pressure on you by the opponent, or the pressure on you by the venue, or the audience is very close. It's like playing on a court, it's like looking at you in front of you, it's close, it's very oppressive.
Lao Fan: Why is it better to play with a sense of oppression?
Si Jia Hui: Maybe it's excitement, it's that your stress slowly turns back to excitement. It's that you're in this place and you're really excited. The whole person is very excited about that state.
Lao Fan: What will you do next in a small game?
Si Jia Hui: I feel that it may be worse, that is, there is no one ah, that is, if you don't get into a far stage and everyone applauds you, it may be worse.
Lao Fan: What do you think of the game against Murphy?
Si Jia Hui: Before the competition, no one would be optimistic about me. They were all predicting that the lad would win, who would win, and very few predicted that I would win. They are likely to predict Wu Yize, may predict Pang Junxu, but rarely predict that I will win, I took a look. Then I said, ah, that's good, I like this kind of people don't expect me, I think then I'll relax and play, that's it. I think people expect too much from me, but I can't play well, I think that's the case.
Old Fan: Do you think Murphy is not a gentleman?
Si Jia Hui: I can't evaluate this, after all, I am not familiar with him. Just briefly looking at his remarks and those things, I feel that behind the scenes I don't know what he is like, but from my point of view, I think that the words he said at that time may be a little unbearable, I think a little. You may think, you have lost to an amateur player, how dare you say such a thing? That is, you have lost to amateur players, don't you be ashamed? I think it's incredible that you would say such things after you lost. I think his apology later may be the pressure of public opinion, many foreign social media are spraying him, just think why do you say that you lost to an amateur player, what do you have to talk about, play like that. I think in that state at the time, he might have said that he couldn't win. What he said may be a little inappropriate, but in other competitions, I think he is quite a gentleman.
Lao Fan: How do you think about the big lead and losing?
Jia Hui: There will definitely be loss, but after all, when you are close to victory, you will still have pressure. It's what you say, try to enjoy the arena as much as possible, and when you actually go up, there is really still pressure, that is, you still think, oh, I'm really going to win, I'm really going to get to the final, you still have that pressure. The first time I came in, there would definitely be nervousness. The game I lost, it will only make me remember, but it will not affect me in the subsequent games, that is, playing in all aspects, I don't think it will affect much, just remember. After all, 14-5 in the final four, who will not remember?
Lao Fan: What are your plans for the future?
Si Jia Hui: I think I am worse at defense, and maybe worse in terms of ball solving. After reading the comments, I felt that it was quite right, that is, defense is not good. I think it's good that I'm here in the Final Four. Then next season, try to play every ball to play your own ball, play everything you should practice in your usual training, play all the balls that you should play, I think it's normal to win anyone, I think that's it. Don't expect too much from yourself, just feel as if you have to enter the round of 16 and the last 8 in this game, I think this will put too much pressure on yourself. I think setting a goal for yourself is really stressing yourself, I think it will be, and I hope that will give myself a way to decompress. I hope to adapt to various environments in the future and try to get myself excited in the game.