Scottish Open: Allen suffers agonising semi-final defeat to Lei Peifan

Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen suffered an agonising defeat at the semi-final stage of the Scottish Open as Lei Peifan staged a remarkable comeback to win 6-5 after trailing 5-2.

Breaks of 73 and 97 helped Allen into a 3-0 lead in Edinburgh but the Chinese 21-year-old won the next two frames to reduce his deficit to one.

The world number five 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 his dogged opponent, ranked 84, battled his way back to win four frames in a row in an attritional contest.

Lei Peifan had never previously reached the quarter-final of a ranking tournament and has twice lost his Tour card during his career but now finds himself in Sunday’s final against compatriot Wu Yize.

Wu Yize booked his place in the decider by coming from 4-2 behind to see off another Chinese player, Xiao Guodong, 6-4, in the day’s other last-four encounter.

Also aged 21, he will be competing in the second ranking event final of his career, having lost 9-7 to Neil Robertson in the English Open decider in September.

The world number 27’s comeback win included a break of 115 in the ninth frame to move ahead for the first time in the match.

The two young Chinese players will contest a best-of-17 frame final on Sunday, with the winner collecting £100,000 and the Stephen Hendry Trophy.

For Allen though, he misses out on a glorious opportunity at a shot to collect a 12th ranking title and a second Scottish Open crown, having previously won the tournament in 2018.

The Antrim player had been in prolific scoring form all week at the Meadowbank Sports Centre, racking up a series of centuries on his way to the last four.