Debutant Lei Stuns Wilson As Crucible Curse Strikes Again
Kyren Wilson became the 20th first-time Crucible champion to fail to defend the title the following year as he suffered a dramatic 10-9 reverse against debutant Lei Peifan on the opening night of the Halo World Championship.
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In a match of momentum swings, Wilson won six frames in a row to lead 6-2, then lost seven in succession to trail 9-6, before a late fight-back, only to lose the decider. Having conquered the Crucible 12 months ago, it’s a massive blow for the 33-year-old who had high hopes of retaining the title after a prolific season in which he has won four trophies. Wilson becomes the eighth first-time Crucible champion to lose in the first round the following year, and it ends a streak of nine consecutive years in which he has reached at least the second round.
Early Exits
First time champions to lose their opening match the following year
Terry Griffiths 1980 Steve Davis 1982 Dennis Taylor 1986 Graeme Dott 2007 Neil Robertson 2011 Stuart Bingham 2016 Luca Brecel 2024 Kyren Wilson 2025
China’s 21-year-old Lei won his first ranking title earlier this season at the BetVictor Scottish Open, but said that tonight’s win was the biggest of his career so far as he rose to the occasion on his maiden appearance at snooker’s most famous venue. From 6-2 down, he hit his opponent with a barrage of high scoring, and after a late wobble he regained his composure to make an excellent break in the deciding frame.
The world number 39, who nearly missed out on the Crucible as he had to come from 7-4 and 9-8 down to beat Gao Yang 10-9 in the final qualifying round, is through to the last 16 and will face Zhao Xintong or Jak Jones from Friday next week.
“It feels amazing. The Scottish Open was my first title and this was my Crucible debut — both moments are very special to me. The emotions were just as intense,” said Lei.
Lei trailed 6-3 after the first session but dominated from the start tonight, firing breaks of 50, 53, 60, 75 and 89 to take the first four frames and lead 7-6. After the interval, Wilson had the first scoring chance in frame 14 but made just 19 before missing a red to a top corner and Lei punished him with 69. Another Wilson missed red to a corner pocket early in the 15th proved expensive as his opponent compiled a superb 92 for 9-6.
World number two Wilson pulled one back with a break of 106. In the 17th, Lei was two pots from victory on a run of 60 when he over-cut the third last red to a top corner, and Wilson later cleared with 45 to close the gap to 9-8. Lei led 40-10 in the 18th when he missed a mid-range red and Wilson’s 60 drew them level.
Kettering’s Wilson had one clear chance in the decider but made just 14 before failing to split the pack off the blue. He later made a safety error and Lei’s tremendous break of 66 made him the first player to beat a defending champion in their debut match at the Crucible since Stuart Bingham knocked out Stephen Hendry in 2000.
Wilson said: “It’s really hard to take, it really hurts. Lei potted some incredible balls and held himself together in the end, he seems like a cool character and I wish him all the best. It has been a long season, I have done so much. I am proud of the way I have handled it and hopefully I have given you guys (the media) plenty to write about. We are all trying to grow the game, make it more popular and help the younger generation to see it as a great sport to get into.“
Lei added: “I didn’t think I had much chance when the draw came out. But the moment I stepped into the arena and saw the crowd, I just felt so excited. It really lived up to what I saw on TV all those years ago. I was definitely feeling pressure towards the end. I calmed myself down and told myself not to over-think — just to let go and play freely.
“I really enjoyed playing here – the crowd, the lighting, the whole atmosphere was amazing. I was fully immersed and happy throughout the match. In the deciding frame when the curtain came up, it felt like I was in a final. I used to watch that scene on TV when I was a kid – now it was real, I was actually sitting next to that table. It brought back so many childhood memories. And of course, it made me want to win even more – I’ve worked hard to get here, and I wanted to give something back to the fans and to myself.“
On the other table, Barry Hawkins took a 5-4 lead over Hossein Vafaei. World number 11 Hawkins, runner-up here in 2013, top scored with 93 in taking a 3-1 lead. After the interval, Iran’s Vafaei rallied with breaks of 56 and 123 to restore parity at 3-3. Hawkins pulled away again to 5-3, but Vafaei made an important 64 in the last of the evening to trail by just one frame overnight.
Kyren Wilson has been a fantastic World Champion all season, a great ambassador for his sport. Yesterday he came up short, just, against an inspired Lei Peifan. Lei is very strong under pressure, he showed that earlier this season, the way he won the Scottish Open, his first ranking title. Obviously, Kyren must be very disappointed right now but he should be proud of himself and of the way he represented his sport. I hope that, in a few days, he can see how well he did as a first time World Champion. Thank you Kyren.
Hereafter, the ES pundits, including Ronnie, discuss various topics, among other things, why/how the Crucible is special and Zhao Xintong’s as well as Judd Trump’s, Mark Selby an John Higgins’ chances. This was before the evening session . Zhao starts today…
Zhao served his ban, came back hungry, regained his tour card via an official route, and earned his invite via an official route as well. He deserves to be here.
The performances of the young Chinese players in qualifying, and so far at the Crucible, really does present a stark contrast with the present crop of British/mainland European players of similar age. There is just no comparison. For me, one of the big disappointments of qualifying was the mainland European contingent. There is talent there but it’s just not being fulfilled.
One of the problems the best young players from mainland Europe face is “isolation”. They don’t have many other players in their group age and at their level if any at all. That’s not helping their development. Also, in most countries from western mainland Europe, formal education is mandatory up to the age of 18, which makes moving abroad more complicated as well. And if they move abroad, i.e to the UK, with a parent or “tutor” it comes at a serious cost. Snooker is not recognised as a sport in most of those countries, probably in none of them, meaning there is no financial support whatsoever for snooker talents or for developing clubs.
Yes, all very good points. It would be nice, though, to see some British players of the same age as these outstanding Chinese players showing the same sort of form on a regular basis, especially given that they don’t face anything like the same disadvantages as you describe. But it simply isn’t really happening. I don’t know what the answer is.
It was an extraordinary start! As we’ve seen before, Lei Peifan’s strength is his temperament and resilience. It seems like these qualities count for a lot. He has a pretty good all-round game, but technically looks very limited. This is probably an illusion, but it does make him infuriating to play against. He was praised for his positive attitude in the face of Wilson’s comeback from 9-6 to 9-9.
Unfortunately, despite speaking decent English, I didn’t see a live interview on the BBC or TNT. Another missed opportunity.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
The performances of the young Chinese players in qualifying, and so far at the Crucible, really does present a stark contrast with the present crop of British/mainland European players of similar age. There is just no comparison. For me, one of the big disappointments of qualifying was the mainland European contingent. There is talent there but it’s just not being fulfilled.
One of the problems the best young players from mainland Europe face is “isolation”. They don’t have many other players in their group age and at their level if any at all. That’s not helping their development. Also, in most countries from western mainland Europe, formal education is mandatory up to the age of 18, which makes moving abroad more complicated as well. And if they move abroad, i.e to the UK, with a parent or “tutor” it comes at a serious cost. Snooker is not recognised as a sport in most of those countries, probably in none of them, meaning there is no financial support whatsoever for snooker talents or for developing clubs.
Yes, all very good points. It would be nice, though, to see some British players of the same age as these outstanding Chinese players showing the same sort of form on a regular basis, especially given that they don’t face anything like the same disadvantages as you describe. But it simply isn’t really happening. I don’t know what the answer is.
It was an extraordinary start! As we’ve seen before, Lei Peifan’s strength is his temperament and resilience. It seems like these qualities count for a lot. He has a pretty good all-round game, but technically looks very limited. This is probably an illusion, but it does make him infuriating to play against. He was praised for his positive attitude in the face of Wilson’s comeback from 9-6 to 9-9.
Unfortunately, despite speaking decent English, I didn’t see a live interview on the BBC or TNT. Another missed opportunity.