Wu Yize beat Shaun Murphy 18-17 in the World Snooker Championship final on Monday, sealing the title with a break of 85 in the deciding frame. It was the first final to go to a 35th and deciding frame since 2002, and it turned a tense match into one of the sport’s most memorable finishes.
The 22-year-old became the second-youngest world champion in history and China’s second world champion in as many years, after Zhao Xintong broke through the glass ceiling 12 months ago. Wu also extended a remarkable run at the Crucible, becoming the fourth consecutive first-time winner of snooker’s world title.
For Wu, the result capped a path that began when he came to England as a 16-year-old with his father to chase his dreams. He lived in a windowless flat in Sheffield while trying to build a career, and after the win he said that for months he had been living the same life and was delighted he had managed to pull it off.
Murphy, meanwhile, was bidding for a second world title 21 years after his first and had fought back from an overnight 10-7 deficit to lead 12-10 at the start of Monday’s afternoon session. Wu answered with three consecutive frames to regain control going into the evening, setting up a finish that left Murphy only one frame short of a second crown.
The closing stretch also carried a heavier human cost for Wu. He said his mother had sacrificed everything for him and had been in hospital for a long time while he was in Sheffield, a reminder of the personal strain behind a title run that has now put Chinese snooker firmly at the center of the sport.
Murphy, who lost 18-15 to Mark Selby in the 2021 world final, was gracious in defeat. He called Wu a wonderful world champion and said he had earlier predicted the Chinese player would one day win the title, adding that it was a shame it happened on this day and that he could not have given any more.
The result leaves no doubt about the shift in the game’s balance at the top. China now has two world champions in as many years, and Wu has done it in a final that demanded every bit of nerve, accuracy and endurance the sport can ask for.
