Steve Davis called out an “unforgivable” error from Wu Yize as the Chinese star strived to get back into the World Championship final. After Shaun Murphy won five frames in a row to go 12-10 up, Wu stopped the rot by closing to within one.
The 22-year-old had started a promising-looking break in the next frame, only to make a big positional error as he potted a red, forcing him to play safe with his next shot. Davis said on BBC commentary: “Oh my goodness. He got the line wrong. At this level, that’s unforgivable.” Fellow snooker legend Stephen Hendry added: “He’ll be disappointed because he was just starting to get on a roll there.”
After Murphy failed to take advantage of the opportunity, Wu was soon back at the table, only to find himself in more positional strife. After potting the brown, Wu lost position again, finding himself trapped too close behind a red to pot another red and having to play safe.
“Not again!” said an exasperated Davis on commentary.
Despite his various travails in the frame, Wu actually managed to win it to tie things up at 12-12 after sinking a long red after Murphy had surprisingly turned down a pot and played safe.
Hendry was impressed by what he saw from the youngster, saying: “Wu Yize has shown great character here because I have to say he was gone. Shaun kept winning all those frames, but this has been brilliant.”
Fellow former world champion Ken Doherty added: “Wu could’ve lost this session very heavily but now he is back in the match. He was down on the canvas, but got back up and is back in the fight – he looks like the player he did yesterday.
“It’s just incredible how the narrative can change quickly. All of a sudden Shaun Murphy will feel on the back foot. If he is behind going into tonight’s last session he will feel a bit let down and Wu would be over the moon.
“The only difference between the two players is Shaun has won it before and has a bit more experience. Whether that will be the deciding factor, it will be fascinating to find out.”
Wu went on to win the final frame of the afternoon as well to take a 13-12 lead into the final session.