On May 5, Wu Yize, a "post-00s" teenager from Lanzhou, Gansu Province, won the 2026 World Snooker Championship. With this victory, Wu Yize became the first "post-00s" World Championship champion in the history of world snooker, and the second Chinese player to reach the top of the event after my country's snooker star Zhao Xintong.
On May 4, Wu Yize was in the game. Xinhua News Agency
Fierce battles to break through the barriers, and the decisive moment creates fruitful results
This World Snooker Championship is full of gold. Wu Yize faced strong opponents from the start of the first round, without an easy game, and each round of promotion steadily broke through with solid skills and a strong mentality.
In the first round of the game, Wu Yize was in hot form, both offensive and defensive, defeating Lei Peifan with a score of 10-2, achieving a "good start" cleanly, laying a good competitive rhythm for the whole event. In the second round, facing four-time world champion Mark Selby, Wu Yize was not afraid of the opponent's veteran strength, calmly dismantled the complex table, dared to fight in the key game, and finally won 13-11, successfully crossing a strong opponent on the road to winning the championship.
In the semi-finals, the most thrilling reversal of the game was staged. Against the famous Mark Allen, Wu Yize once fell behind 14-16 and was only one step away from being out. Under heavy pressure, he did not panic and collapse, but calmed down to adjust the tactical rhythm, focused on every ball, every game of offense and defense, and tenaciously chased points with his super psychological quality, winning three games in a row to achieve a comeback against the wind. At the last moment, Wu Yize accurately locked the victory and advanced to the final with a thrilling score of 17-16, becoming the first "post-00s" player in the history of the World Snooker Championship to break into the final battle, writing history in advance.
The final adopts a 35-game 18-win system, and the tug-of-war confrontation in four stages is full of suspense.
At the beginning of the first stage, Wu Yize took the lead in three consecutive games, and Sean Murphy immediately adjusted his tactics to win four games in a row to fight back; In the eighth game, Wu Yize stabilized his position, and the two sides were tied 4-4;
In the second stage, Wu Yize felt warm, blasting out a high score of 103 points in a single stroke to break 100 points, establishing a lead of 10-7;
In the third stage, Sean Murphy fought back with all his might, winning five games in a row, Wu Yize withstood the high pressure and responded with three shots of 50+, holding a slight advantage 13-12;
At the decisive moment of the fourth stage, the tense atmosphere of the whole audience was full, Wu Yize played steadily, and finally won the tiebreaker steadily and won the championship 18-17.
After many days of fierce fighting to win the World Snooker World Championships, Wu Yize faded away from the tense state of the arena and looked back on the road with sincere gratitude. In an interview with the media after the game, he said emotionally: "Thank you to my parents, I want to say that they are the real champions, they are my eternal spiritual strength. ”
Young people have been deeply involved in hard work, and more than ten years of honing have paved the way for their careers
Behind the highlights of the arena is Wu Yize's silent perseverance and growth day after day for more than ten years.
In October 2003, Wu Yize was born in Lanzhou, Gansu Province. He is calm and focused. At the age of 7, under the professional enlightenment and guidance of his father Wu Jiepin, he walked into the billiard room for the first time to contact snooker. His innate excellent sense of the ball, precise positioning talent and calm on-the-spot mentality quickly allowed the coaches around him to see his potential and believe that he had the high-quality potential to embark on a career path.
Since then, Wu Yize has received systematic and professional training from Da Hailin, a national champion and outstanding billiards player in our province, from basic stance and strength to overall tactical layout, step by step to consolidate basic skills. The road of teenagers to pursue their dreams planted the seeds of ideals early.
In 2012, Wu Yize communicated and competed with international billiards master Stephen Hendry on the same stage in the local arena in Lanzhou, and felt the demeanor, professionalism and competitive pattern of the world's top players up close, which ignited the dream of going to the world arena and hitting the world championship.
In 2016, 13-year-old Wu Yize gave up his after-school play time and devoted himself to full-time professional training, leaning over, aiming, hitting, and reviewing for a fixed amount of time every day.
Talent and sweat bear fruit. In 2018, Wu Yize's career ushered in a breakthrough: he won the youth championship of the CBSA China Youth Snooker Jiaxing Open, also won the IBSF World Youth U21 group championship, and won the third place in the team in the Asian Snooker Championship with his teammates. So far, he has become one of the core players of the new generation in China.
In order to connect with the international high-level training system, benchmark the world's top professional players, and make up for his shortcomings, in 2019, 16-year-old Wu Yize went to Sheffield, England for training accompanied by his father. In a foreign country, there are many difficulties due to language barriers, tight funds, and uncomfortable daily life, but it has never erased his enthusiasm for pursuing his dreams.
Day after day, he immersed himself in hard training, quietly accumulating strength, and waiting for the opportunity to break through with all his might.
Accumulate experience in advance and be crowned the champion of the ranking tournament for the first time in 2025
Before competing in the 2026 World Championships, Wu Yize has made key breakthroughs in top domestic events, fully accumulated experience in competitions, and built a solid foundation for the World Championships.
On November 9, 2025, the final of the World Snooker Tour International Championship officially kicked off in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Wu Yize broke through the level strongly with a dark horse attitude, passing all the way and fighting hard battles throughout the process. Looking back on the road to winning the championship at that time, almost every step was difficult -
In the 1/8 finals, Wu Yize won six games in a row after falling behind 0-4, reversing the current world No. 1 Judd Trump; In the quarterfinals, he swept England's Barry Hawkins, who had eliminated him, 6-0; In the semi-finals, the "Chinese Derby" was staged, Wu Yize defeated Zhao Xintong, the champion of the Xinke World Championships; In the final, he showed his comprehensive ability to break 100 with four single strokes, defeating Scotland's John Higgins 10-6 to win the championship.
This is Wu Yize's first ranking championship. With this victory, he climbed to 13th in the world rankings, opening a new chapter in his career. This is also the second consecutive year that a Chinese player has won this tournament - the 2024 champion is China's Ding Junhui.
"Dreams come true." After winning the championship, Wu Yize wrote in the circle of friends.
At that time, thousands of miles away in Lanzhou, the fans waiting in front of the TV were also boiling. From the first game of this tournament, Li Yang, the store manager of Wu Yize Billiards Club, organized members and fans to watch the game offline at the club, with a total of more than 1,000 spectators.
Wu Yize immediately shared the joy with his friend Li Yang. Li Yang recalled: "On the night of winning the championship, Wu Yize was very excited in the video call, and he told me that he did it!" ”
Caring about the family and country to live up to the youth, the snooker teenager continues to write a new chapter
Looking back on the journey of the World Championships, Wu Yize said in an interview with the official website of the World Snooker Tour: "This competition has experienced almost all the emergencies that can be encountered in the professional snooker arena, and this unique and unforgettable experience will be remembered and cherished for the rest of my life." ”
Wearing a bright five-star red flag and standing on the world's highest podium, Wu Yize's eyes were firm and full of sincerity, showing the feelings and responsibilities of Chinese young athletes in the new era.
"This is the supreme honor!" In an interview with the official website of the World Snooker Tour, he said emotionally, "As a professional sports athlete, I must not only fight for my long-term dreams and my family who have paid silently, but also shoulder the glory of the country and the mission of the times, go to foreign arenas, and work hard for the honor of the motherland, live up to the times, live up to the country, and live up to the youth." ”
The good news of Wu Yize's victory came back to China, which instantly detonated heated discussions on the whole network, and colleagues from all walks of life in the Chinese Taiwan world praised and sent sincere blessings. Ding Junhui, the leader of Chinese snooker, immediately posted a congratulatory post on the official social platform: "Congratulations to Wu Yize for winning the 2026 World Snooker Championships!" I am happy for you, and I am also proud of Chinese snooker to get to where it is today! From Zhao Xintong to Wu Yize, for two consecutive years, Chinese players have stood on the highest podium of the World Championships. This is not just a breakthrough, but our time is coming! ”
Become famous and do not forget the love of the hometown. In addition to deeply cultivating the top professional arena, Wu Yize has always been concerned about the long-term development of sports in his hometown of Gansu, and took the initiative to shoulder the important task of promoting and popularizing local billiards.
In July 2025, Wu Yize Billiards Club was inaugurated and opened in his hometown of Lanzhou, building a professional and high-quality billiards sports platform; In October of the same year, he made a special trip to return to his hometown, opened a special open class on public welfare snooker in the venue, and demonstrated standard hitting movements, dismantled actual offensive and defensive skills, answered questions on the spot, and guided the majority of snooker enthusiasts and young trainees in the province face-to-face.
"I hope to use my actions and achievements to attract more young people in our province to love, understand and devote themselves to snooker, and contribute to the construction and sustainable development of billiards reserve talents in our province and even the whole country." Wu Yize once said this.
"I didn't expect the billiards atmosphere in Lanzhou to be so good." Zhao Haifei, the snooker champion of the billiards competition of the 5th National Fitness Games in Gansu Province to be held in 2025, said, "I think Lanzhou has such a good billiards atmosphere, which is inseparable from the inheritance of Gansu's older generation of outstanding billiards players such as Da Hailin and others." Now that a rising star like Wu Yize has emerged, I feel very excited, and I believe that the billiards atmosphere in the entire Gansu will get better and better. (Reporter Wang Ruijun Wu Han)