Sweeping to Victory with a 9-5 Win, O'Sullivan Praises Him as a Potential World Champion, Lei Peifan Reverses and Advances with a Five-Whip Comeback
December 31, 2024 News: The 2024-25 Snooker World Open has come to a successful conclusion. Lei Peifan, who recently won the Scottish Open, along with 11 other Chinese players including Xiao Guodong, champion of the Wuhan Open, have advanced to the main event. In the competition, Lei Peifan made an impressive comeback with five consecutive victories, ultimately winning 5-4 against Anthony Hamilton.
Recently, snooker events have been very frequent, and the Chinese snooker team has also achieved remarkable results, with Ding Junhui, Xiao Guodong, and Lei Peifan consecutively winning the National Championship, Wuhan Open, and Scottish Open titles.
As a player who has just returned to professional competition, Lei Peifan, who was once considered by "Rocket" Ronnie O'Sullivan to be capable of winning the World Championship, had a strong performance in the Scottish Open. He overcame challenges to reach the final and claim the championship. Prior to the Scottish Open, Lei Peifan also demonstrated his strength by qualifying for the main event of the UK Championship.
In the first round of the UK Championship main event, Lei Peifan faced Zhang Anda, the National Championship winner. Lei Peifan started the match strongly, taking a 2-0 lead, but his opponent fought back, leveling the score at 2-2.
The scores for the first four frames were: 26-100 (63), 0-77, 69-64, 151 (147)-0. After a brief intermission, Zhang Anda continued his momentum, scoring a single-stroke 75 points to win the fifth frame 75-0, sealing another shutout against Lei Peifan. With three consecutive wins, he took a 3-2 lead.
In the sixth frame, the two players engaged in a tug-of-war, with Zhang Anda narrowly winning 64-50 in a closely contested game, extending his lead to 4-2.
Zhang Anda then won another frame to reach match point at 5-2. In a desperate situation, Lei Peifan saved one match point with a single-stroke 59 points. However, Zhang Anda clinched victory in the ninth frame, advancing with a 5-3 total score. After being baptized by the UK Championship, Lei Peifan finally triumphed in the Scottish Open. In the World Open qualifiers, Lei Peifan staged a remarkable comeback, defeating Hamilton 5-4 to advance to the main event. We look forward to his outstanding performance in the upcoming matches!