The 2026 World Snooker Championship has been won by Wu Yize after a superb final with Shaun Murphy at the Crucible
Wu Yize has won the Snooker World Championship after a thrilling 17-16 victory in the final against Shaun Murphy. As a result of his triumph at the Crucible, the Chinese star has secured £500,000 in prize money.
The 22-year-old had nerves of steal and won the deciding frame with a wonderful break of 85. He looked to have made an error when the pink blocked the path of his chosen red, however he managed to superbly pot a different ball before going on to win.
Speaking to BBC host Hazel Irvine on his sensational triumph, with the help of a translator, Wu said: “I think it was to believe. I’ve been trying to get the strength for ages.
“For the past months, I have been living the same life. I am so happy I could play well today.”
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On his message to his Mum and Dad, he added: “My parents are the true champions. Since I made the decision to drop out of school, my Dad has been by my side, my mum has also gone through a lot over the years.
“They are the source of my strength, I love them so much.”
On the crowd loving him and the “Wuuuuuu” chants, he said: “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.”
Finally, he revealed that he will be celebrating by “just having a good sleep”. He then added: “Since the succession of the match, I was feeling nerves all the time, so right now I just want to go to bed.”
Murphy spoke to BBC just before that and was very gracious in defeat while also sending a clear message to Wu.
He said: “Very proud. It’s been an excellent couple of weeks for me and my team. I have had a wonderful time in Sheffield, an amazing time. We have had some laughs, and gee, did we come close. We were very, very close.”
“I’d like to be the first to congratulate Wu Yize and his family, and everyone around him for being a wonderful world champion. 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.”
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