Scottish Open snooker 2024 LIVE RESULTS: Lei Peifan beats Wu Yize to claim first ranking title of career and £100k prize
LEI PEIFAN beat Wu Yize to make the Scottish Open the first title of his fledgling career.
Lei, 21, stunned snooker star Mark Allen on Saturday night in the semi-final before a strong performance against his fellow countryman on the final.
Wu lost the first four frames of the final before fighting back to win four of the next five to keep it competitive - but Lei found his nerve to win the £100,000 top prize.
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Snooker fans are in for a treat this festive period with the return of Riyadh Season Snooker Championship.
Lei reacts to winning first ranking title
Speaking after his Scottish Open triumph, Lei said: "Honestly, it feels so unexpected to win the title.
"I initially just wanted to better my previous best result, which was the last 16. Reaching that stage already felt satisfying, so I played with no pressure and didn’t overthink things."
"The final frame was tough mentally. I kept picturing myself winning the title if I made the next shot, but I tried to stay calm and prepare myself for each shot.
"Coming back to the professional circuit this year, my goal was just to keep my place on the tour.
"I've already been relegated twice before. I didn’t expect this result at all and it came so fast. It shows that hard work pays off and I’ll keep working hard to win more titles in the future.
"Wu Yize and I have been good friends for ten years. This was our first time playing each other. Meeting in a ranking final made it even more special.
"Seeing the players I practise with achieve such great results has been a huge inspiration for me. It reminded me that with enough effort, I can achieve great things too."
One more Home Nations Series event remains
Following Lei Peifan's triumph at the Scottish Open on Sunday, just one Home Nations Series event remains.
The Welsh Open will be the fourth and final tournament - and it will take place in February.
- English Open - Neil Robertson (WINNER)
- Northern Ireland Open - Kyren Wilson (WINNER)
- Scottish Open - Lei Peifan (WINNER)
- Welsh Open - February 10-16
Rankings update
Here is how the top 25 shape-up on the 2-year world rankings list after the Scottish Open 2024:
1 Judd Trump £1,790,200
2 Kyren Wilson £1,143,900
3 Ronnie O’Sullivan £711,500
4 Mark Allen £700,600
5 Mark Selby £687,100
6 Mark Williams £652,700
7 Shaun Murphy £636,400
8 Luca Brecel £630,000
9 Ding Junhui £560,500
10 Zhang Anda £489,650
11 Ali Carter £467,900
12 Barry Hawkins £433,550
13 Si Jiahui £431,800
14 John Higgins £404,150
15 Chris Wakelin £400,000
16 Gary Wilson £395,400
17 Xiao Guodong £367,000
18 Jak Jones £366,300
19 Tom Ford £354,950
20 Neil Robertson £331,950
21 David Gilbert £296,250
22 Jack Lisowski £289,900
23 Robert Milkins £283,900
24 Stuart Bingham £274,900
25 Wu Yize £271,000
Kyren Wilson looks ahead to 167 challenge
Kyren Wilson reckons a mega-money 167 break is doable — and players will attempt it to nab a special Christmas pressie.
The world’s top snooker stars head out to the Middle East this week for the three-day Riyadh Season Snooker Championship, starting on Wednesday.
A 20-point Gold Ball will again be placed on the baulk cushion at the start of a frame and become active if someone clears up with a 147 break.
A whopping $1million (£792,000) bonus — doubled from last year’s inaugural event won by Ronnie O’Sullivan — will go to whoever compiles the first 167 clearance.
World champion Wilson, 32, said: “You’ve almost got to forget about it and just try to play a normal frame of snooker.
“If the 147 is on, the players know and try their best to make it.
“You probably wouldn’t want to be thinking about it until the final pink after making 134.
“Normally you just want to land straight on the black, but you’d want to leave an angle to play up to the Gold Ball on the top cushion.
“I think it can be done. There’s so much prize money on offer with the tournament itself (the winner pockets £250,000), some players might not want to risk it.
“If you win the event it’s so much prize money anyway. But I’m sure there will be a few who think, ‘Sod it, I’ll have a dabble’.
“It would be a nice early Christmas present.”
Lei's path to glory
World No 84 was a surprise winner in Edinburgh after he beat fellow 21-year-old Wu Yize 9-5 in an epic final.
The young cueist secured the first-ranking title of his career and the huge £100,000 jackpot.
Here is how he did it:
- Lei Peifan 9-5 Wu Yize (Final)
- Lei Peifan 6-5 Mark Allen (Semi-final)
- Lei Peifan 5-4 Tom Ford (Quarter-final)
- Lei Peifan 4-3 Stuart Bingham (Last-16)
- Lei Peifan 4-3 Shaun Murphy (Last-32)
- Lei Peifan 4-1 Hossein Vafaei (Last-64)
Saudi schedule
We've got all the information and the full schedule for the big event over in Saudi Arabia.
Golden returns
Snooker fans won't have to wait long to find a bit more of their favourite sport on the calendar.
The Riyadh Season Snooker Championship returns next Wednesday, December 18 - meaning the golden ball is back in play.
As if you'd forgot, there is a massive prize on offer for potting the golden ball and scoring a 167 maximum, with $1million to the first player to manage it.
TV broadcasting details for the UK have not yet been announced, but SunSport will be giving you frame-by-frame updates once again.
Bonus prize
As well as his £100,000 payout on Sunday night, Lei will now have his eyes on another major bonus.
He currently trails Neil Robertson by just £8,600 in the BetVictor Series standings with the final event being the Welsh Open from February 10-16.
Whoever finishes top of the standings after that event will earn themselves a very welcome £150,000 bonus.
'Hard work pays off'
A the other end of the scale to Wu is Lei, who won the first ranking title of his career with a sensational effort.
He may have been a bit faulty in the middle frames but finished well to hold off his charging countryman.
Lei said: "Honestly, it feels so unexpected to win the title. I initially just wanted to better my previous best result, which was the last 16.
"Reaching that stage already felt satisfying, so I played with no pressure and didn’t overthink things."
He added: "The final frame was tough mentally. I kept picturing myself winning the title if I made the next shot, but I tried to stay calm and prepare myself for each shot.
"Coming back to the professional circuit this year, my goal was just to keep my place on the tour. I've already been relegated twice before. I didn’t expect this result at all and it came so fast.
"It shows that hard work pays off and I’ll keep working hard to win more titles in the future.
"Wu Yize and I have been good friends for ten years. This was our first time playing each other. Meeting in a ranking final made it even more special.
"Seeing the players I practise with achieve such great results has been a huge inspiration for me. It reminded me that with enough effort, I can achieve great things too."
'I don't know what happened'
Wu was inevitably a bit gutted with the way he played in the final and said he was playing "without any touch or rhythm".
Wu said: "This week I think I performed well overall, but not in this final match. I don’t know what happened. It felt like I was playing without any touch or rhythm.
"I didn’t really put much pressure on myself, but maybe I was a bit nervous in the first four frames. I tried to adjust later on, but it still didn’t feel right.
"Thanks to everyone for your support. Maybe my performance this time was a bit disappointing, but I won’t let it crush me.
"I believe I’ll have many more opportunities in the future and I’m confident I can win a title."
'He's going to be great'
Neal Foulds had his say on Wu, who will no doubt be pondering his performance in that game.
He had some really impressive breaks but the slow start and a nervy finish cost him.
But Foulds is not concerned at all: "In snooker and sport things happen when it's time to happen.
"His time is absolutely guaranteed to come, he's too good a player not to.
"He's going to be great, there's no problem with him."
Quite incredible run
It has been a quite remarkable week for Lei who, before this competition, had not made it past the last 32 in a ranking event.
As Alan McManus succinctly put it on Eurosport: "How many people win a ranking event before they've played at the Crucible?"
Bright futures
Both of these players are aged just 21, which meant this was the fifth-youngest combined age in a ranking final in snooker history.
The two highly talented players clearly have very bright careers, although Wu will be disappointed with the way he has started in his two finals this season, going down 4-0 in each one.
Up to 43
As just mentioned, Lei Peifan has stormed into the top 50 for the first time in his career with that win and that prize money.
The £100k winnings takes him to £141k and moves him up 41 places into 43rd.
Wu took home £41,500 for his efforts and has also moved up to 25th - the first time he has cracked the top 25 in his career.
Sky is the limit for Lei
Lie Peifan came into this tournament having never progressed further than the last-16.
Ranked 84th in the world, no one was even talking about the young Chinese player being a potential wild card.
They soon did after coming back from 5-2 down against Mark Allen, to go and win the semi-final 6-5.
Tonight's Scottish Open final win may not sink in until tomorrow, but Lei Peifan is now a name people will be keeping an eye out for.
Wu gracious in defeat
Wu Yize said his performance did not deserve to win this trophy.
He congratulated Lei Paifan and said he earned his victory.
No doubt we will see Wu in a lot more ranking finals in the years to come.
Lei Peifan beats Wu Yize 9-5
Wu Yize (CHI) 5-8 Lei Peifan (CHI)
Some brilliant long potting from Peifan puts him in control.
He is on a break of 62, heading towards taking the frame.
Peifann misses the cut to the middle, leaving him 63-0 up, but there is still 68 on the table.
Wu Yize (CHI) 5-8 Lei Peifan (CHI)
Neither player is planning on going down through error here.
They are going to make their opponent work for this.
With only a single ball having been potted, the pair are exchanging snookers currently.