Watch moment snooker star Si Jiahui stuns Ally Pally crowd with inch-perfect escape shot at the Masters
THIS is the moment Si Jiahui sent the crowd into a frenzy after making an inch-perfect escape shot at the Masters.
World No.4 Mark Allen thought he’d set up a near impossible snooker block before Chinese debutant Si found a way out.
Si came to the table with the cue ball trapped behind the blue near the baulk cushion.
But the 22-year-old remarkably escaped with a shot of the tournament contender.
Si was nowhere near close to hitting one of the two remaining reds with either of first two tries.
But he drew huge cheers from the Ally Pally crowd when he hit between two long reds after travelling down the table.
The audience immediately began rejoicing when the cue ball screwed off the cushion with spin from a squared angle.
A commentator said: “Brilliant! Brilliant! Wow I have never heard an applause like that in snooker.
“But it’s very deserved. Great shot.”
However Allen went onto claim the gruelling first frame, which lasted more than 40 minutes.
The next five games were all won with breaks of 60 or more, with former World Championship semi-finalist Si making 103 in frame two.
But Allen responded with 111 on his way to a 4-2 lead, before claiming a fifth and securing a scrappy sixth frame.
The Englishman told Eurosport: “I played well there, I missed one or two shots in the whole game, I just felt like I got the better of the safety side of it.
“He’s such a dangerous player, you need to keep it tight and I did that tonight.
“These are the events you want to play in, this is one of the biggest events in our calendar and probably the best area we play in in front of amazing fans.”
Allen will play Mark Selby in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Follow SunSport’s live coverage of the Masters here.
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins