On April 25, Beijing time, the first round of the Snooker World Championships ended, five Chinese players played, one win and four losses, Ding Junhui, Zhang Anda, Lu Haotian and Pang Junxu fell off, only the teenager Si Jiahui fought hard and entered the top 16 alone. How far Chinese players can go in this World Championships can only depend on the quality of Si Jiahui, the "dark horse".
Last year, Si Jiahui started from the qualifying round, defeated Jordan Brown, Shaun Murphy, Milkins and McGill to reach the semi-finals, and once led 14-5 in the semi-finals, but was finally defeated by Brechel.
This year, Si Jiahui made a comeback, defeating Mertens 10-8 in the qualifying round, eliminating Wu Yize 10-4 to advance to the main event, and defeating No. 6 seed Mark Williams 10-9 in the first round to advance to the round of 16. As the only remaining seedling, he will face Jack Jones, who also came out of the qualifying round and eliminated two Chinese players, Zhou Yuelong and Zhang Anda.
From the perspective of world rankings, Si Jiahui ranks 23rd, Jack Jones ranks 44th, from the past record, the two sides have a historical record of 3 times, Si Jiahui 1 win and 2 losses, slightly behind, 2020 German Masters Qualifying Round 1, Si Jiahui lost to Jack Jones 3-5, 2023 Tianjin National Championships second round, Si Jiahui lost to Jack Jones 4-6; In the second round of the 2023 Wuhan Open, Si Jiahui defeated Jack Jones 5-4. Both of them entered the main draw for the first time at last year's World Championships, with Si Jiahui reaching the semifinals and Jack Jones reaching the quarterfinals, with Si Jiahui having a slight advantage. Judging from the state, both of them felt good in the first round of the main match and advanced in an upset. This narrow road encounter, two dark horses compete, it is really unpredictable who will kill the deer!