Wu Yize overcame Mark Allen 17-16 in a dramatic World Snooker Championship semi-final on May 2 or 3, securing his first appearance in the final at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield [1, 2]. The 22-year-old, ranked 10th in the world, now faces Shaun Murphy after Murphy defeated John Higgins 17-15 in the other semi-final on the same day [1, 2, 3].
Wu led Murphy 10-7 after the second session of the final on May 4. The match is set to resume on Monday with Wu needing eight more frames to claim the title and a winner's cheque of £500,000 ($679,025) [3, 2].
Born in Lanzhou, China, Wu moved to Sheffield at age 16 to pursue snooker, initially living in a windowless flat and sharing a bed with his father [2]. He turned professional at 17 and won his first ranking title last November at the International Championship in Nanjing, also reaching the Masters semi-finals on debut [2].
Wu said, "I want to give my best efforts and everything I have got to try to win the World Championship" [2]. Reflecting on the tense semi-final duel, he added, "I feel I am still not recovering from the nerves" and "I feel sorry for Mark. I felt like I was losing the match" [1].
Mark Allen acknowledged his missed opportunities, saying, "You don’t deserve to be in a world final if you’re missing balls like that—that was just pure pressure to be honest" and "I had two or three good chances to close out the match but I didn’t do it, so credit to Wu Yize" [1].
Wu could become only the second Chinese player to win the World Championship and potentially the second youngest ever winner behind Stephen Hendry, depending on the result [3, 1, 2]. On facing Murphy, Wu noted, "Shaun Murphy has been playing well throughout the tournament, he beat Zhao Xintong and he's been playing well in terms of scoring, so it's going to be a very tough match but I believe both players are going to give their best" [2, 1].
The final continues Monday with Wu aiming to complete his rise from his early struggles after moving to Sheffield to challenge for the world title [3].
