Xu Si has been the surprise package of this week’s Indian Open and is now preparing for the biggest game of his life.
The 19-year old Chinese potter, who is competing in only his first professional campaign, has lost in the opening round of each of last three tournaments but now finds himself about to play in his first ever ranking event semi-final after a fine string of five wins.
He’s followed his win in qualifying against Michael Georgiou with victories in Vishakpatnam against Robin Hull, Sean O’Sullivan, Ricky Walden and David Gilbert to earn a last four tie.
This run has come from absolutely nowhere and is clearly playing to his advantage with all his expectations exceeded and all the pressure being bundled on his more experienced opponents.
Youth is a fantastic quality because it buys fearlessness and Xi has personified that this week, making more of an impact here than he ever could have imagined in his maiden season on the circuit.
Xu for most will be a relatively unknown quantity but, despite his youthful years, he has enjoyed a couple of moments in the limelight at the back end of last season.
At the World Open last season, he beat James Wattana in the wildcard round and then followed this up with another win at this stage of the International Championship versus Wang Yuchen which paved the way for him to beat two-time world champion Mark Williams in the last 64.
But if he thought these moments were big enough to make his mark, then he’ll have to pinch himself right now.
