Marco Fu feeling blue as miss proves costly at Scottish Open
Defending champion loses in the last 16 after leading 59-0 in the deciding frame against China’s Xiao Guodong, who produces a thrilling comeback
Hong Kong snooker star Marco Fu Ka-chun made a painful exit in his defence of the Scottish Open against China’s Xiao Guodong, who produced a stunning comeback to win the deciding frame on the last black in Glasgow.
World No 9 Fu thought he had done enough to win the best-of-seven encounter when he led 59-0 in the deciding frame but a miss on the blue would prove costly in the end for him at the Emirates Arena.
Xiao, the Gloucester-based world number 34, then polished everything in sight, including a difficult pink and then a finely cut black to win the frame 73-59 and complete a dramatic 4-3 victory.
Watch: Marco Fu v Xiao Guodong (last frame) at Scottish Open
Fu had done well to come back from 3-0 down in frames to make things delicately poised at 3-3 but 28-year-old Xiao displayed coolness under pressure, producing a thrilling 73 clearance that even Fu applauded in the end.
Fu’s defeat came 12 months after the 39-year-old Hong Kong cueist celebrated one of the best ranking tournament wins of his career but it’s been a disappointing season for the Hong Kong star, who before the Scottish Open had failed to reach the last 16 of his previous ranking tournaments.