Michael Emons
BBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre

Some quotes from China’s Si Jiahui, after his 13-10 win over Ben Woollaston.

“Yes it was tough, because neither of us played very well,” said Ji. “There werealmost no big breaks. It was exhausting, mainly mentallyexhausting. I relied entirely on my willpower to win the match.

“Itwent 10–10, when we had a mid-session interval, I went to the practice room tohit a few balls, just to relax a bit and stop my arms from being too tight.Before that, I had been way too tense, and my potting accuracy and overallfeeling were really bad. So I tried to loosen up and find some rhythm. In thelast three frames, I gradually found some touch again, and luckily managed toclose it out.

“It’s because I wanted to win too badly. I put too much pressure onmyself. That made my performance worse. My opponent was alsoplaying in the last 16 at the Crucible for the first time, and he wasn’tplaying very well either. So overall, both of us didn’t play to a highstandard.

“Sometimes when I play against higher-ranked players, I perform particularlywell and manage to win. But when facing lower-ranked players, it feels like theenergy just cuts off sometimes. I know clearly that it’s a mentality problem.Over the past few years, I’ve unconsciously put more pressure on myself when facinglower-ranked opponents. This is something I must work on and change.”