Image caption: Wu Yize with his parents
Image credit: Getty Images
Image caption: Wu Yize, 22, is the second-youngest winner of the World Snooker Championship
By Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
A new Chinese superstar has arrived. A year after Zhao Xintong’s breakthrough, 22-year-old Wu Yize sealed a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy to claim the World Snooker Championship at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
The triumph was intensely personal. Wu moved to the UK from Lanzhou at 16 with his father while his mother remained in China battling long-term illness. He described her as his rock, saying: “My mum wasn’t in very good health condition for a long time… She sacrificed everything for me. At that time she told me ‘don’t come back home, I can manage everything’.” He added that she was feeling much better and that he hoped to have her by his side more often.
Wu has used a translator at press conferences and has repeatedly recalled the difficult early years in Sheffield, when he and his father shared a bed in a windowless flat while trying to establish a professional career. That struggle, and his attacking, risk-taking style — a contrast to snooker’s traditionally cautious image — has helped him stand out on the circuit.
High-profile figures tipped Wu as a future champion during the tournament. Seven-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan and Murphy himself had praised him earlier in the event, and Jason Ferguson, chairman of World Snooker, celebrated both the victory and the journey behind it. “This boy is just outstanding,” Ferguson said, recalling the family’s long battle to reach the elite stage. “We are seeing a changing of the tide… Wu is really now entering that era of becoming a great where he can go on and win and win and win.”
Reporters covering the event framed Wu’s success as part of a wider generational shift in the sport. May Zhao, reporting for the International Sport Press Association, argued the win confirms a new era for Chinese snooker at the highest level and suggested the reaction in China will be enormous — with potential audiences at peak moments possibly exceeding 100 million viewers.
Wu’s rise gained momentum after his win at the International Championship in Nanjing last November, which lifted him to a then career-high 13th in the world. Joe Liu, a Chinese snooker reporter working for World Snooker, pointed to the significance of Wu’s background: Lanzhou is not known as a sporting hotbed, but Liu says Wu’s confidence has been evident at tournaments and that he seems aware of his potential.
The world title has now pushed Wu to fourth in the rankings and strengthened the sense that Chinese players are reshaping the sport with a more aggressive brand of play. Six-time champion Steve Davis told BBC coverage: “The game is changing, shot selection is changing and the likes of Wu Yize are changing the face of snooker to make it much more aggressive. The modern-day players coming through have got to copy this. You can’t win playing safe.” Stephen Hendry added: “He’s just brilliant. He plays the game properly and goes for the shots… He just gets on with it and he’s having fun.”
Statistics back up the perceived shift. Chinese players won three events on the professional circuit in 2024-25; this season that tally rose to seven across 23 events, driven largely by Zhao, Xiao Guodong and Wu. The number of Chinese players appearing in the televised stages of the World Championship increased from a record 10 in 2025 to 11 this year, and the top-16 contained five Chinese players compared with four before last year’s tournament.
Ferguson said the changing landscape was inevitable as some older stars pass their peak: “There is now a lot more talent chasing them and a lot more talent that’s capable of winning. We’ve seen a big shift in the younger players. What we’re seeing now is multiple players that can actually beat the ‘Class of 92’ and go all the way.” Liu echoed that sense of a new era, noting Wu is “almost 30 years younger than those guys” and suggesting that if Wu continues to develop over the next few seasons he could join Zhao among the game’s dominant figures.
That said, experience remains highly relevant. Established English players continue to post strong results: Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson between them hold five world titles and have added five tournament wins this season, including victories in the UK Championship and the Masters. Their form underlines that while a generational change is underway, the game’s veterans remain dangerous opponents.
For Wu, the Crucible win is both a personal vindication and a milestone for Chinese snooker. From a cramped flat in Sheffield to lifting the sport’s most prestigious trophy, his journey is a reminder of the sacrifices behind elite success and a sign of how quickly the sport’s balance of power is shifting.
