Wu Yize claimed a 18-17 win over Shaun Murphy at the Crucible Theatre to win the World Snooker Championship
Wu Yize celebrates victory as he lifts the World Snooker Championship trophy(Image: Getty Images)
Wu Yize has won the deciding frame against Shaun Murphy to win the World Snooker Championship. Wu secured an 18-17 victory at the Crucible Theatre to win the first world title of his career at 22 years old.
Wu secured a break of 85 to win the 35th and deciding frame of the superb final in Sheffield to defeat 2005 champion Murphy.
The 22-year-old had defeated Lei Peifan, Mark Selby, Hossein Vafaei and Mark Allen to reach the two-day final.
The final went to a deciding frame thanks to Murphy getting a break of 75 in frame 34, with both players having a chance at the table to win the tournament.
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Murphy got eight points on the board in the deciding frame, but Wu’s break of 85 was more than enough to see him crowned the 2026 World Snooker Championship winner for the first time in his career.
Wu gave an interview with BBC Sport after winning the World Championship, where he outlined the emotions he was going through after the victory over Murphy.
“I think it was to believe. I’ve been trying to get the strength for ages,” Wu said, with the help of a translator.
“For the past months, I have been living the same life. I am so happy I could play well today.”
Wu also had a message for the fans inside the Crucible who were chanting his name throughout the tournament.
“At the beginning, I had a misunderstanding, I thought they were booing me. But the staff told me they were cheering me on.
“I can’t thank them all enough, no matter who you support, I think the love for snooker is mutual.”
Despite losing the final, Murphy went on to offer his congratulations to Wu after the final frame.
“I’d like to be the first to congratulate Wu Yize and his family, and everyone around him for being a wonderful world champion,” Murphy told BBC Sport.
“I hate being right, I said sometime earlier in the season, we had a great game out in China somewhere, and I managed to win that one.
“I came out afterwards and said that he would be world champion one day, it’s just a real shame that it was today, but I couldn’t have given it anymore, I couldn’t have tried harder.
“I played the best shots I could have played and I didn’t get my chance. I couldn’t do any more than that.”
