Cool Lyu off to Crucible flier with nerveless victory over Fu
China’s Lyu Haotian scored a surprise 10-5 victory over Marco Fu in his first appearance in the final stages of the World Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Sunday.
Hong Kong potter Fu, who was out of action for three months after undergoing surgery for retinal degeneration, trailed 6-3 after Saturday’s first session and failed to score a point in the first two frames on Sunday night as 20-yearold Lyu extended his advantage to 8-3.
A run of 49 gave Fu frame 12 and he then found some rhythm with a 120 in the next to close to 8-5 at the interval. But he fell short when Lyu compiled breaks of 79 and 61 to win the last two frames.
Sheffield-based Beijinger Lyu, at 68th the lowestranked player at the tournament, will face Barry Hawkins or Stuart Carrington in the last 16.
“I’m very happy to win, it was a really enjoyable match,” said Lyu.
“I was expecting to be nervous on my debut, but it turned out to be very enjoyable. I know Marco was not feeling well about his eyes so maybe that affected his performance and contributed to the result.
“I just hope to continue to give this kind of performance in the next round. I never think about winning the tournament, I just want to play well.”
Fu, a two-time Crucible semifinalist, said: “Overall, between the two sessions, Lyu was by far the stronger player, so 10-5 is a fair score. He was superb. I’ve played at the Crucible as a 20-year-old myself and I know how difficult it is, but for him it was just like practice. He rose to the occasion.
“My eyes are good, it didn’t really affect my game. I just lost to a better player, simple as that. I’ve got a few months off now so I’ll probably take a rest and have a few checkups.
“I will be back next season. This tournament came a bit too soon for me because I really lack match practice. I would have loved to have had one more tournament before coming here but the timing wasn’t right.”
In the day’s other matches, five-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan beat Stephen Maguire 10-7.
Two-time runner-up Ali Carter rebounded from a 6-2 deficit to beat Graeme Dott 10-8.