Scottish Open 2024: Lei Peifan beats Wu Yize in tense Edinburgh final to claim first career ranking title
Updated 15/12/2024 at 23:16 GMT
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Lei Peifan became a winner of a ranking event at the age of 21, and did it in his first appearance in a final. Lei did the damage in the opening session as he won the first four frames against Wu Yize and he withstood a charge from Wu to get his hands on the Stephen Hendry Trophy. Watch and stream top snooker action, including the Welsh Open, live and on demand on Eurosport and discovery+
Lei crunches in red to secure Scottish Open final victory over Wu
Video credit: TNT Sports
Lei Peifan claimed his first tournament win as a professional and, in beating Wu Yize 9-5 in the final of the Scottish Open, he became the lowest-ranked player to secure a ranking title in 31 years.
In 1993, Dave Harold won the Asian Open when ranked 93 in the world. And 31 years on, world No. 84 Lei beat his compatriot Wu to get his hands on the Stephen Hendry Trophy.
It was a match that promised much between two 21-year-olds, but nerves were on show and it dragged the standard down.
Lei won the opening four frames in the afternoon, and although Wu fought hard and got back within one he was unable to sustain his effort.
Wu got in with a fine red to start the evening session and looked good in making 26, but the nerves that dogged him in the afternoon were on show as he missed a routine black.
The frame turned scrappy with the black over a pocket surrounded by reds, but Wu got in again and a run of 43 was enough to get back within one frame of Lei at 5-4.
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Lei had seen his lead whittled away by a surge from Wu. He was presented with a chance in the 10th, found the heart of the bottom right with a long-range red and picked off a break of 70 to restore his two-frame cushion.
The 11th frame was littered with errors, as both players potted decent balls but their positional play was extremely lax.
The frame boiled down to the final three colours and Lei always had the upper hand in the exchange. A chance came his way and he crunched it in to open up a three-frame lead.
The quality was not high, but there was no shortage of tension as simple balls were missed by both players in the 12th.
Once again the telling mistake came from Wu who left the green over a pocket for Lei and he cleared to the pink to get to the final interval one frame from the title.
Wu was 7-1 and 8-2 down to Neil Robertson in the English Open final before rallying for a 9-7 defeat and he kept his hopes alive by taking a scrappy 13th.
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‘That was special’ - Lei pots stunning red against Wu in final
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The winning line was never going to arrive easily for Lei. He crafted a chance and made a break of 62, but he went awry positionally in trying to get to what would have been match ball. It hit the bottom jaw of the right middle and remained above ground to extend the drama.
A second chance arrived shortly afterwards and a couple of deep breaths were taken before he thundered a red into the bottom right.
The win was secured and it was greeted by a hug from his compatriot Wu who was thrilled for his friend despite the disappointment of defeat.
Speaking on Eurosport afterwards, Lei said that he was "very, very lucky" to have claimed his first ranking title.
"I got very, very lucky," he said. "The goal I set out about earlier this week was to get into the last 16 because my previous best ranking finish was the last 16.
"Wu is bound to get a champions’ title in the future and for me this week, all the effort that I’ve put in has been totally worth it. Last year was a really difficult year for me because I fell out of the tour, and I just got back on tour this year. This means a lot.
"We will keep this effort, we will keep doing well."
Wu himself admitted that he did not feel he had done enough to emerge the victor.
"I didn’t really deserve the win," the runner-up said. "I got really lucky to make it this far this week. I probably should have lost in the quarter-finals. Lei did really well to become the champion this week. "I feel very happy, but it’s a shame that I didn’t get more points on the scoreboard. It was a really, really tough final."
Afternoon session - Lei takes lead despite Wu rally
Wu fought back from losing the first four frames to cut the gap to Lei to 5-3 after the opening session.
There were nerves from two players who were hunting a first ranking title, but Lei settled the quicker and won the opening four frames.
Wu won the first two frames after the mid-session interval. He was a little slack in allowing Lei to grab the seventh but regrouped to take the eighth to leave the final well-balanced.
In what was his first ranking final, nerves were understandable for Lei and his opening attempt at a pot missed by a large margin.
In contrast, Wu’s opening pot dropped and he rolled up behind the green to leave Lei in a snooker.
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Lei made a series of escapes in a gripping eighth frame in his win over Mark Allen, and he found the target on this occasion as well.
The next shot from Lei was off target, but it cannoned into another red and dropped into the bottom right. It was a huge fluke, and a telling one as he picked off a break of 68 to take the opener.
Lei missed five of 14 attempts with the rest in his semi-final win, as confirmed by Joe Johnson on Eurosport commentary, and his fallibility was in evidence in the second frame as he potted a red only to badly lose the cue ball.
Both players benefitted from flukes in the second frame, but neither led to a decisive contribution. The big moment came when Wu, who looked extremely nervous in his second ranking final, missed a black and Lei stepped in to double his advantage.
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Wu flukes red against Lei in Scottish Open final
Video credit: TNT Sports
Wu’s struggles continued in a 25-minute third frame. Another error with the rest from Lei presented a chance to his fellow 21-year-old, but Wu missed a simple red and it was costly as Lei made it three frames on the spin.
In what was the youngest combined age of a ranking final since a 19-year-old Paul Hunter beat John Higgins, 22, in the 1998 Welsh Open, Lei swept the first mini session.
Lei was not flawless in his play, but he took advantage of the errors from his opponent and the occasional slice of luck - such as when a red took an age to drop during a break of 71 in the fourth - to take control of the contest.
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‘Would you believe it?’ - Lei checks with referee after ball takes an age before dropping
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Wu went straight to the practice table at the interval, and whether there was a technical tweak or words of encouragement from his father, it appeared to spark him to life as he made a series of excellent pots in a break of 69 to get on the board.
There was an air of confidence about Wu in the sixth frame, and he was unperturbed when running out of position. Lei had a chance to steal the frame, but he missed the penultimate red and Wu knocked it in - followed by a stunning pink - as he won his second frame on the spin.
Wu had a big chance to keep the pressure on Lei, but played a slack safety to allow his opponent the steadier of a half-century break.
Not killing off the frame handed chances to Wu, but he failed to pot a simple red playing with his opposite hand and then missed a tough red with the rest - and Lei was able to restore a three-frame cushion.
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Watch and stream top snooker action, including the Scottish Open, live and on demand on Eurosport and discovery+
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