Wu Yize Wins World Championship in Final-Frame Classic to Become Second-Youngest Champion in History
A Deciding Frame for the Ages
The 2025 World Snooker Championship produced its most dramatic conclusion in over two decades on Monday evening at the Crucible Theatre, as 22-year-old Wu Yize defeated Shaun Murphy 18–17 in a final frame that will be replayed in highlight reels for years to come. It was the first Crucible final to reach the 35th and deciding frame since 2002, when Murphy himself — then also 22 — claimed his maiden world title. The symmetry was not lost on the Sheffield crowd.
Wu's clinching break of 85 in that decisive frame was the culmination of a remarkable fortnight for the Chongqing-born potter, who moved to Sheffield with his father at the age of 16 to pursue a professional career. According to his own account after lifting the trophy, Wu has spent much of recent months in a disciplined training routine while his mother has been receiving hospital treatment — a personal sacrifice that gave the victory a weight far beyond the sporting. "Since I made the decision to drop out of school, my mum has not been in good health," Wu said following the match. "She has sacrificed everything for me."
How the Final Unfolded
Wu entered the deciding frame holding a 17–16 advantage and appeared on the verge of closing out the match when he missed what was widely regarded as a routine red during what could have been a championship-winning visit. Murphy, the 2004 world champion and a player whose match-play resilience remains as sharp as any in the field, capitalised to level at 17–17 and force the contest to its conclusion.
That miss threatened to become a defining moment of misfortune rather than triumph. Instead, Wu responded with composure that belied his age. His opening shot in the final frame — an attacking, high-risk red that exemplified his instinctive, front-foot approach to the game — set the tone. The 85-break that followed was enough to seal the title and cement his place in the sport's record books.
Historic Achievement in Context
At 22 years old, Wu Yize becomes the second-youngest world champion in the history of the event. Only Stephen Hendry, who claimed the first of his seven titles in 1990 aged 21, has won the Crucible crown at a younger age (source: CueTracker / snooker.org). The table below places Wu's achievement alongside some of the sport's youngest world champions:
Youngest World Snooker Champions (Crucible Era, since 1977)
1. Stephen Hendry — 21 years, 106 days (1990) | 2. Wu Yize — 22 years (2025) | 3. Shaun Murphy — 22 years, 66 days (2004) | 4. Ronnie O'Sullivan — 25 years (2001) | 5. Mark Selby — 27 years (2012)
The fact that Murphy sits third on that list made the final's narrative almost implausibly neat. At 42, the Irishman was bidding to bookend his career with a second world title, 21 years on from his first. He was, in many respects, the last line of an older guard — an experienced, technically orthodox competitor facing a player who represents a markedly different philosophy of the game.
China's Second Champion in Consecutive Years
Wu's victory follows Zhao Xintong's breakthrough world title in 2024, making China the first nation outside the United Kingdom and Ireland to produce back-to-back world champions. Where Zhao's win felt like a watershed moment, Wu's — delivered with such dramatic flair in a deciding frame — arguably amplifies that shift considerably. The attacking game Wu brought to Sheffield, characterised by ambitious shot selection and a willingness to take on positions most professionals would play safe from, is the sort that builds followings across time zones.
Chinese snooker's infrastructure, which has produced a steady stream of ranked professionals over the past decade, now has its most compelling figurehead since Ding Junhui's dominant period in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. Wu is younger, however, and appears to carry fewer of the mental burdens that complicated Ding's relationship with the Crucible across his career.
Analysis: A Champion Built for This Era
It would be premature to project multiple world titles onto a player after a single Crucible win. History is littered with one-time champions who never returned to the final. What can be said with confidence, based on the evidence of this tournament alone, is that Wu Yize possesses the shot-making quality, the temperament under extreme pressure, and — crucially — the crowd-friendly game to become a genuine flagship player for the sport. His response to missing that red at 17–16, producing an 85-break on the biggest stage and in the highest-pressure frame the game offers, was not the reaction of a player who had arrived accidentally. It was the response of a champion.
