Ronnie O'Sullivan set to play in his 14th Crucible semi-final after last eight win over Si Jiahui

O’Sullivan - who is appearing on snooker’s grandest stage for a 33rd consecutive year - is through to the one-table set-up in Sheffield for the 14th time in his illustrious career, 29 years on from his first semi-final there in 1996.

The 49-year-old’s route through to the last four had been relatively stress-free until the closing stages of his quarter-final encounter with Chinese youngster Si.

Against the number 13 seed, O'Sullivan got off to a strong start, building a 4-1 lead before ending the first session on Tuesday afternoon 6-2 up.

The seven-time World Champion continued to keep his opponent at arms length when they resumed on Wednesday morning, but 22-year-old Si threatened to win the second session when he reduced his arrears to three at 9-6 down, although O'Sullivan finished off the programme by keeping his four-frame buffer at 10-6.

Returning in the evening for their concluding act, two-time ranking event runner-up Si twice closed the gap to within two at 10-8 and 11-9, to ramp up the pressure on O'Sullivan and heighten the tension in the Crucible arena.

Emerging from their final mid-session interval, Si was on the brink of cutting his deficit to just one, but O'Sullivan potted an outstanding red from distance and compiled a classy counter clearance of 35 to pinch it on the final black for 12-9.

After that body blow, Si got in first in frame 22 but missed a brown when more than 40 points up.

As he so often does, O'Sullivan went on to punish, crafting a match-winning contribution of 74.

Next up for O'Sullivan is a mouth-watering semi-final clash with Zhao Xintong, who earlier in the day ended the challenge of fellow qualifier Chris Wakelin.

In total, O'Sullivan has relinquished 17 frames across his opening three matches in the event - that is the fewest of the four remaining contestants in Sheffield.

Having broke free from 5-4 to defeat Ali Carter 10-4 in round one, O'Sullivan then dispatched Pang Junxu 13-4 in the last 16.

Following his elimination of Si, it means that O'Sullivan will face a youthful Chinese player for the third round running.

Overall, O’Sullivan’s game appears to be in very decent shape - impressive stuff when you consider this is his first tournament back on the professional circuit since the Championship League Invitational in early January.

At that behind-closed-doors event in Leicester, O’Sullivan deliberately snapped his cue in frustration and withdrew despite having one further league fixture to play.

That incident sparked a trail of withdrawals from subsequent events, including the soon-after Masters where O’Sullivan was set to defend his crown at the Alexandra Palace in London.

After weeks of intense speculation as to whether he would feature, O’Sullivan confirmed that he was going to play just days before the main draw, televised stages began. He arrived in Sheffield equipped with a new cue; there are still areas that the record 41-time ranking event winner probably needs to work on, but in the balls, he is generally looking sharp.

Downbeat O’Sullivan says he misses “playing well”

However, despite his latest victory, O'Sullivan continues to cool down talk about his performances, and appears to be keeping expectations low - although this sort of discourse is far from unusual from him.

Speaking on BBC Four shortly after the match, O'Sullivan said: "I'm just grinding it out, I had some work done on my cue today, I am playing awful and my cue feels awful but I am still here.

"I miss the buzz of playing well. He had lots of chances, I was trying everything and he let me off the hook.

"Each match is an opportunity. The Chinese are such nice boys I love to see them playing well.

"I have give it my best but I am hanging in there. I would like to be playing better but I have to try and find some form at some point.

"I don't feel rusty, I have only been playing for a month but I just couldn't face playing. It gets harder, look at the way Judd is playing.

"I won't be able to get away with what I have done so far. I can't get any worse, put it that way."

Please visit our 2025 World Snooker Championship tournament information centre here for details on the draw, results, format and order of play.