China’s Wu Yize booked his spot in the final of snooker’s Scottish Open in style, delighting fans at Meadowbank.
The 21-year-old will face countryman Lei Peifan in the Edinburgh showcase on December 15, with the two Chinese young guns set to do battle for the Stephen Hendry Trophy. Yize secured his place with a 6-4 win over Xiao Guodong, whilst Peifan staged a remarkable comeback to win 6-5 against Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen after trailing 5-2. Breaks of 73 and 97 helped Allen into a 3-0 lead in Edinburgh but the Chinese star won the next two frames to reduce his deficit to one.
World number five Allen looked to be on the verge of victory when he won frames six and seven but a missed pink in the next proved crucial as Peifan, ranked 84th in the world, battled his way back to win four frames in a row and secure his spot in the Scottish Open final. Whilst Peifan’s comeback had fans on their feet, it was an exhibition performance from Yize in the other semi-final that left commentators speechless.
With the ninth frame already in the bag, and a century chalked off, Yize set about pleasing the fans – with Eurosport’s Neal Foulds saying: “He’s just trying to hit the balls as hard as he can.” And that was certainly the case for the brown, as Wu launched his cue into the white sending the brown hurtling towards the green pocket. But such was the speed of the shot, the brown bounced into the pocket and straight back out – balancing perilously on the edge of the table, before dropping back in for a second time.
The shot left pundits shocked, as Meadowbank roared with approval, with Foulds saying: “It went in, came back out the pocket and then went straight back in again. I’m not quite sure how you do that. He’s fantastic isn’t he, what a player.”
Foulds’ partner in the commentary box, Dave Hendon added: “What a player indeed. He sort of bullied the brown into the pocket for a 115 break.”