How Lei stunned the world
Lei Peifan enjoyed an outstanding and dominant seven-frame spell in which he barely missed a ball as he defeated Kyren Wilson, writes ROB MAUL.
He hit six successive half-century breaks – 50, 60, 75, 89, 69 and 92 – while, in contrast, Wilson’s highest break was only 45.
Lei rallied again at the end for a famous winCredit: Alamy
Wilson, 33, made it 9-7 with a peerless 106 and then somehow survived the error of missing the black off its spot in frame 17.
In frame 18, Wilson came from 40-10 down to force the decider but then Lei’s aggressive approach paid off as he won the 19th frame with the entire auditorium watching in silence.
In the 10am morning session, Scottish Open champion Lei could not have had a worse start to proceedings – his opening shot was a FOUL as the blue went down a pocket from the BREAK-OFF.
Wilson, the world No.2, hit a 136 break in frame eight and only needed to keep his composure on Saturday night to secure easy passage.
The Curse started to tighten its grip in frame 11 and Wilson was left shaking his head when he fouled as a stray red rolled into the pocket after he sunk a blue.
Before arriving here, Wilson tried to mock his predicament in a social media clip – this involved him breaking a mirror, letting a black cat walk in front of him and opening an umbrella indoors.
It was an attempt to make light of what he was about to face, a defiance if you like to the much-mentioned ‘Snooker Gods’, but his luck eventually ran out in sensational fashion.
Wilson had mentioned his desire to break the Curse in the hours after he won the £500,000 jackpot last May but he was outpotted by the tremendous Lei.