World number 84 Lei Peifan wins Scottish Open in mammoth shock
12/15/2024 05:12 PM
Lei Peifan is the 2024 Scottish Open champion after a 9-5 win over Wu Yize as the 21-year-old completes a dream week in Edinburgh.
The world number 84 had never been beyond the last 16 of a ranking event before his trip to Scotland this week, but has hit form in sensational style.
After winning two qualifying games to reach the main stages, Lei beat Hossein Vafaei, Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham to reach his first ever quarter-final.
There he edged out recent Shoot Out winner Tom Ford 5-4 and then secured a stunning win over Mark Allen in the semis.
The unheralded youngster was 5-2 down against the world number five but then reeled off four frames on the spin to win 6-5.
He met fellow 21-year-old Wu in the final, and although Wu was also looking for his first ranking title, he was the clear favourite having been to the English Open final earlier this season and impressing in a string of other tournaments in recent years.
However, Lei dominated the contest, strolling into a 4-0 lead as Wu struggled to find anything like his best form.
Wu did fight hard and battled back to just one frame behind at 5-4, but Lei then won the next three to go one from victory.
Lei lost the next but then got over the line in the 14th frame to secure a famous victory and the £100,000 top prize.
More to follow…
