Adam Williams presents his prediction for the Scottish Open snooker match.
Tom Ford
Tom Ford continues his winning streak at the Scottish Open. Tom confidently defeated Long Zehuang (4-1) with breaks of 87, 74, and 51. Prior to that, Ford overcame Neil Robertson (4-1) and Antoni Kowalski (4-2). Tom is eager to finish the year strongly and enjoy the Christmas break. After the Scottish Open, there will be another World Open qualifier, where Ford will face Ahmed Aly Elsayed, and only a lapse in concentration can stop him from reaching the tournament's final draw. Remarkably, at the start of this season, Tom lost seven out of eight matches, but after winning the Shoot-Out, his performance improved markedly, underscoring the importance of mentality in snooker. One of the most minor tournaments can help a snooker player improve and gain self-belief. This was the case for Chris Wakelin after his Shoot-Out victory, and now the same is happening for Ford.
Lei Peifan
Ford's opponent in the quarter-finals will be Lei Peifan. Lei defeated Stuart Bingham (4-3), despite frustratingly losing the fourth frame. When the score was 3-1, he made a total clearance of 134 points. Over the last three frames, Lei allowed Bingham to score only seven points, indicating Peifan has a solid mentality and psychological resilience. Before this, Peifan also secured a victory against Shaun Murphy (4-3). Lei may not excel at building breaks, but he knows how to win scrappy frames. The risk is that this approach requires a lot of energy, which might be challenging to sustain in a longer match.
Tom Ford vs Lei Peifan Prediction
Lei Peifan has reached the quarter-finals of a ranking tournament for the first time and will strive to challenge Tom Ford, who will be keen to end the match swiftly. However, it may prove very difficult to achieve this. Ford and Peifan recently played in the UK Championship qualifiers, where Peifan won (6-5), but Ford is currently a different player. Now inspired by his success and first trophy, Ford will play much stronger.
