Chinese Snooker Star Triumphs Over O'Sullivan, While Shi Jiahui Falls Short in Rematch
Beijing, December 28th, 2024: The Macau Masters Invitational Snooker Tournament continues with its events. On the third day of competition, a highly anticipated match saw world number 13, Shi Jiahui, challenge seven-time World Champion "Rocket" Ronnie O'Sullivan. Unfortunately, Shi Jiahui was defeated with a score of 2-5.
In September's Saudi Masters quarter-finals, Shi Jiahui had previously triumphed over O'Sullivan with a 6-4 victory.
Recently, snooker competitions have been frequent, and the Chinese snooker team has been performing exceptionally well. Players such as Ding Junhui, Xiao Guodong, and Lei Peifan have consecutively won titles at the National Championships, Wuhan Open, and Scottish Open. Shi Jiahui, also ranked 13th in the world, reached the final of the Wuhan Open.
This season, although Shi Jiahui's performance has been somewhat inconsistent, his overall display at the beginning of the season was outstanding. In the first round of the 2024 Shanghai Masters, he defeated world number 13, Tom Ford, with a 6-4 win, advancing to the next stage.
In a pivotal second-round match, Shi Jiahui continued to perform impressively, scoring five breaks over 50 and sweeping last year's World Champion, "Baldy" Luca Brecel, with a 6-2 victory, securing his place in the top eight.
In this match, Shi Jiahui maintained his momentum from the previous round, starting off with a break of 70 points to win the first game. Brecel remained calm and responded with a break of 87 points in the second game, winning two consecutive games to lead 2-1.
Shi Jiahui regained his composure in the fourth game, winning five games in a row to secure a 6-2 victory. In this match, Shi Jiahui made four breaks over 50 (70, 55, 77, 64). In the quarter-finals, Shi Jiahui faced "The Jester from Leicester" Judd Trump, who had eliminated three-time World Champion "Golden Left Hand" Mark Williams in the previous round.
In the match against Trump, Shi Jiahui fell short with a 2-6 defeat, missing out on the semi-finals. In subsequent competitions, Shi Jiahui reached the final of the Wuhan Open again, but unfortunately lost to Xiao Guodong with a score of 7-10 in the final.
Due to his relatively impressive overall performance over the past two seasons, Shi Jiahui once again received an invitation to participate in the Macau Masters Invitational Snooker Tournament. He competed on the third day, attempting to challenge O'Sullivan again, but was unsuccessful with a 2-5 defeat.