Wu Yize became the second-youngest winner of the Snooker World Championship when the 22-year-old beat Briton Shaun Murphy 18-17 in a deciding frame thriller on Monday.
The Chinese player edged a tight battle against former champion Murphy, who recovered from going behind overnight to keep the battle going long into Monday evening.
Wu is the second youngest to claim the title after Stephen Hendry, who won his first world title aged 21 in 1990. He also became China’s second world champion after compatriot Zhao Xintong triumphed at the Crucible last year.
Zhao was beaten in the quarterfinals by the “Magician” Murphy, who won his first world championship in 2005, when Wu was not even two years old.
However, Wu, who was constantly serenaded with chants of “Wuuuu” from the Crucible crowd, showed remarkable composure in a final packed with momentum swings, with the players level at 14-14, 15-15 and 16-16 during a tense evening session, to win in the city he moved to when he was 16 to enhance his snooker career.
The match went all the way to a deciding frame, where Wu seized control after a cagey start and produced a decisive break of 85 to seal victory.
“Very proud. It’s been an excellent couple of weeks for me and my team. I have had a wonderful time in Sheffield, an amazing time. We have had some laughs, and gee, did we come close. We were very, very close,” Murphy told BBC Two.
“I’d like to be the first to congratulate Wu Yize and his family, and everyone around him, for being a wonderful world champion. I hate being right, I said sometime earlier in the season... that he would be world champion one day. It’s just a real shame that it was today,” he added.
In addition to hoisting the trophy, which dates back to 1926, Wu will also collect 500,000 pounds ($676,400) in prize money and will rise up into the top 10 in the world rankings.
Published on May 05, 2026