Having not played competitively since snapping his cue at the Championship League in January, O’Sullivan expressed reservations over his ability to be competitive when he arrived in Sheffield.
However, after seeing the likes of Mark Selby, Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson depart early from his side of the draw, he is now just one win away from a ninth Crucible final.
And on this evidence he may take some stopping, despite his suggestions that he has been the beneficiary of his opponents’ shortcomings.
While the errors from his victories over Ali Carter and Pang Junxu were still present against Si, particularly from long range, nobody as yet has shown themselves capable of ruthlessly exposing them.
Si, a semi-finalist as recently as 2023, was left to rue several missed opportunities to take frames after being presented chances and then found that his opponent was simply too assured once handed a good opportunity of his own.
“He played poor and let me off the hook,” O’Sullivan said.
“I got lucky again. I have tried to give it my best and I am just hanging in there.
“I have relied on other people to win and that doesn’t feel good for me. I always feel better when I force the opening and put the pressure on my opponents. You feel a lot better when you’ve won the match rather than they’ve lost it.
“Look at Judd and Mark [Williams] and Zhao, I won’t be able to get away with the standard I have played the last three matches at.”
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