China's Wu Yize poses for the media with the trophy and wearing the Chinese national flag, after winning the World Snooker Championship defeating England's Shaun Murphy in Sheffield, England, Monday, May 4. AP-Yonhap
Wu Yize became snooker's second straight world champion from China after beating Shaun Murphy in a dramatic final-frame decider at the Crucible Theatre on Monday.
With his 18-17 victory, the 22-year-old Wu is the second-youngest winner of the worlds after Stephen Hendry at age 21 in 1990.
Wu follows in the footsteps of Zhao Xintong, who 12 months ago became the first-ever champion from Asia in a milestone moment for a game whose stronghold has always been in Britain.
“All of a sudden, the floodgates have opened,” six-time world champion Steve Davis said of China getting back-to-back winners.
“The style in which they are playing is the benchmark for the European and British players to come.”
China's Wu Yize prepares to play during his match against England's Shaun Murphy at the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield, England, Monday, May 4. AP-Yonhap
Wu's unlikely victory — he’d never won a match at the Crucible before this year — came in the fourth final to go the distance, and the first since 2002.
Roars of “Wuuuuu” rang out around the storied venue after his title-clinching break of 85 in the decider, in which he pulled out a slew of attacking shots that have been his trademark over the past two weeks.
“At the beginning, I had a misunderstanding — I thought people were booing me,” Wu said of the crowd through a translator, “but then the staff told me they were cheering me on."
Source: Korea Times News
