He succeeds his compatriot Zhao Xintong, is the second Asian to win the event, and is the second youngest ever.
From one Chinese player to another. Wu Yize was crowned world snooker champion this Monday, succeeding his compatriot Zhao Xintong and becoming only the second Asian to win the main world competition in the sport.
At the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, a temple of the sport, the 22-year-old Chinese player defeated Englishman Shaun Murphy 18-17 in a final played over four sessions between Sunday and Monday and decided only in the tiebreaker, something that has rarely happened since the decision was made in 35 frames .
The World Championship hadn’t been decided in a tie=breaker since 2002, something that has happened for the fourth time since the Crucible has hosted the competition (1977). The last time was in the final won by Peter Ebdon against Stephen Hendry in 2002, and similar outcomes occurred in 1994 when Hendry beat Jimmy White and in 1985 when Dennis Taylor won against Steve Davis.
Wu Yize = the third Chinese player to reach the final after Ding Junhui in 2016 and Zhao Xintong in 2025 = became the second youngest ever world champion, surpassed only by Stephen Hendry, who won the first of his seven titles in 1990 at the age of 21.
Shaun Murphy, the 2005 world champion, was looking to become the 14th player to win the tournament more than once, but it wasn’t to be this time, after losing the final to John Higgins in 2009, Stuart Bingham in 2015 and Mark Selby in 2021. With the title, Wu Yize takes home a prize of £500,000 (approximately €580,000).
