Wu Yize: Who is China's latest snooker sensation?

Chinese snooker fans spent years desperately hoping one of their players would lift the famous World Championship trophy.

In 2016 trailblazer Ding Junhui came agonizingly close in the final. Last year the wait was finally over when Zhao Xintong became the first world champion from Asia.

It seems the conveyor belt of Chinese talent on the baize is in overdrive because a new superstar has emerged in Sheffield this year with Wu Yize in the final and only Shaun Murphy now stands in his way from becoming China's second player to win snooker's biggest prize.

After watching opponent Mark Allen miss an easy black ball in a nail-biting last-frame decider late on Saturday night, an exhausted Wu said: "In the last session I made some mistakes and towards the end I was lucky. I want to give my best efforts and everything I have got to try to win the World Championship."

'Playstation' potter! 

At the age of 22, Wu could also become the second youngest champion after Stephen Hendry who was 21 in 1990. 

He is young, effervescent and fearless on the table, humble and sweet off it, and everybody is talking about him.

After his devastating defeat, Allen said: "Wu doesn't seem to mind the pressure. Even if he doesn't win it this time, I think he will win many world titles."

Iran's Hossein Vafaei, beaten by Wu in the quarter-final, said: "The guy was potting from everywhere. It was like playing against a Playstation you know? You are thinking, where can I put the cue ball?"

Even Ronnie O'Sullivan, seven-time World champion and arguably the greatest every snooker player, said: "I practised with Wu in Hong Kong. It's not until you practise with someone that you can really appreciate how good they are. After day two, I was like 'This kid is really special'."

Who is Wu Yize?

Wu Yize comes from Lanzhou in the northwest of China and moved to Sheffield three years ago to join the growing stable of Chinese players in the Yorkshire city.

It all started aged 11 when his dad took him to the Yushan International Billiards Academy to be seen by a coach from Australia called Roger Leighton.

Leighton recalls: "He was a fun-loving kid. If he missed a ball he hated it, but he laughed a lot and that was his way of releasing pressure." After fixing a few technical and consistency issues, his rise has been remarkable. 

Rising 'rookie'

Wu won the Under-21 World Championship at the age of 14 in 2018, turned professional at 17 and got to the last 32 of three ranking events on the way to being named Rookie of the Year. 

He made his big breakthrough at the 2025 International Championship in Nanjing when he beat John Higgins to win his first ranking title aged just 22, becoming the ninth player from mainland China to land a ranking event. 

After reaching the finals at the English Open and Scottish Open last season, Wu is now 10th seed and is the youngest player in the world's top 16 rankings.

China continues to be a growing force in snooker, providing 11 of the 32 players in this year's World Championship.

Now all eyes will be on Wu to see if he can upset the odds and topple Murphy, World champion in 2005, and become another snooker hero back home in China in front of his growing legion of fans in his adopted home of Sheffield.