Wu Yize beats Shaun Murphy in thrilling final frame to win World Snooker Championship

Wu claims title 18-17 with decisive break of 85 The 22-year-old is the second-youngest champion ever As the ticker tape rained down on Wu Yize and the Chinese flag was draped over the shoulders of snooker’s newest superstar as he clutched the game’s most famous prize, it was hard not to imagine that this sport was changing in front of our eyes for ever. If Zhao Xintong broke through the glass ceiling for 12 months ago, then the exploits of the China’s newest Crucible king may have just shattered it into a thousand pieces. The boy who came to England with his father as a 16-year-old to pursue his dreams, living in a windowless flat in Sheffield, is now the champion of the world. Continue reading... As the ticker tape rained down on Wu Yize and the Chinese flag was draped over the shoulders of snooker’s newest superstar as he clutched the game’s most famous prize, it was hard not to imagine that this sport was changing in front of our eyes for ever.

If Zhao Xintong broke through the glass ceiling for 12 months ago, then the exploits of the China’s newest Crucible king may have just shattered it into a thousand pieces. The boy who came to England with his father as a 16-year-old to pursue his dreams, living in a windowless flat in Sheffield, is now the champion of the world. But this 22-year-old is not your ordinary champion. China has a second world champion in as many years but Wu’s star will shine brightly wherever he goes. He scaled snooker’s Mount Everest in unforgettable fashion.

The magnificent Shaun Murphy responded to take the final the distance. Murphy almost represented a one-man guard of a former era, bidding for a second world title 21 years on from his first, when he too was a 22-year-old with the game at his mercy. How he played his part, taking the final all the way. “He’s a wonderful world champion,” Murphy said. I said earlier in the season after we had a great game out in China that he would be world champion one day.

Murphy produced a sublime 131 clearance to square it again at 16-16 before Wu produced a break of 91 littered with attacking, carefree shots to move just one frame from immortality. But suddenly, he blinked: a routine red while on 45 that allowed Murphy to swoop in and take us all the way for only the fourth time in Crucible history. For Murphy, the lure of joining the exclusive band of men to have won at the Crucible multiple times. They got one, too; Murphy potted a sumptuous red but was forced to go safe before Wu took on an audacious red to the middle. Not snooker’s newest sensation.

Explore more on these topics Share Reuse this content Wu claims title 18-17 with decisive break of 85 The 22-year-old is the second-youngest champion ever As the ticker tape rained down on Wu Yize and the Chinese flag was draped over the shoulders of snooker’s newest superstar as he clutched the game’s most famous prize, it was hard not to imagine that this sport was changing in front of our eyes for ever. If Zhao Xintong broke through the glass ceiling for 12 months ago, then the exploits of the China’s newest Crucible king may have just shattered it into a thousand pieces. The boy who came to England with his father as a 16-year-old to pursue his dreams, living in a windowless flat in Sheffield, is now the champion of the world. Continue reading... Wu Yize beats Shaun Murphy in thrilling final frame to win World Snooker Championship