Wu Yize striking the ball during the 2026 World Snooker Championship. (Image: Getty)
Wu Yize has beaten Shaun Murphy 18-17 to win the 2026 World Snooker Championship in a final that had absolutely everything – including a dramatic final-frame decider. He emerges £500,000 richer and becomes the second Chinese player in as many years to lift the title, sparking jubilant scenes inside the iconic Crucible Theatre.
Shaun Murphy has beaten Wu Yize 18-17 to win the 2026 World Snooker Championship in a final that had absolutely everything. He emerges £500,000 richer after winning only the fourth showpiece match that has gone to a final-frame decider to spark jubilant scenes inside the iconic Crucible Theatre.
In just the fourth final ever to go to a deciding frame, Wu started on fire, despite playing late into the previous night in a nail-biting semi-final against Mark Allen. The 22-year-old, bidding to become the second successive Chinese world champion after Zhao Xintong reached the summit a year ago, raced into a 3-0 lead.
The Magician, waving his cue like a wand, fought back to an unlikely lead, before Wu nicked the final to tie up the first session.
But the youngster, who had not won a match at the Crucible before this run, won six of the nine frames on Sunday evening to lead 10-7 overnight.
But back came Murphy, a winner in 2005 at the age of 22, who took advantage of Wu’s apparent nerves.
The young potter from Lanzhou looked tense even as he walked out to greet the Crucible crowd this afternoon, something picked up on by BBC commentators and perhaps more worryingly for Wu, his opponent.
With Wu’s signature long-potting success failing him, Murphy roared back with five frame wins in a row thanks to breaks of 76, 52, 59 and 60.
It was a dismal run for Wu, who looked all at sea before levelling the match and re-took the lead with runs of 60 and 61 in the final frame of the session, as he held a slender lead of 13-12 going into the last.
Wu had the tightest of advantages, with one frame separating the finalists for the first time since 2014, when Mark Selby eventually overcame Ronnie O’Sullivan 18-14.
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A possible 10 frames on Bank Holiday Monday was all that separated the two finalists, and Wu banished the notion of more Crucible nerves by building a frame-winning break of 88 despite the black ball being out of commission.
The second of the evening fell into a battle of safety, of which Murphy would usually edge throughout the final, and he did so again, recovering well from a mistake late in his 82 break.
Wu looked set to push back, rattling in a couple of stunning long shots to get underway, but left a red over the pocket for Murphy… only for the Englishman to return the favour after making 59. Wu couldn’t capitalise though and Murphy tidied up to draw level.
Shaun Murphy in action during the final against Wu Yize. (Image: Getty)
In a race to four frames, Murphy missed a pink to middle while on 34 but Wu then took his eye off the pot while searching for a crucial cannon, missed and Murphy had the perfect opportunity to take the lead.
But he handed another chance to Wu, who struck a long red that was left over the pocket and cleaned up the remainder of the table to steal the 29th frame.
After a short break, Murphy turned the tide as he fought back from 70-0 down to nick the frame to raucous applause inside the Crucible Theatre.
But as he so often did, Wu roared back with a marvellous 56 break as his exceptional long-potting returned to type.
And when your luck is in, it is in. Wu missed a long red to start the next frame but fluked another into the opposite corner pocket.
It wasn’t enough though, as Murphy roared back in stunning fashion to draw level yet again as he produced his 12th century of the tournament, three more than anyone else, finishing it off with a trickshot on the black.
The match remarkably went to a best-of-three and Murphy nailed a long red to kickstart those proceedings, full of confidence at just the right time.
He made 45, but made an unforced error on a red with tension in the air – only for Wu to miss himself on the very next shot.
Both players’ nerves appeared shot as they approached the climax of a final that will go down in the history books.
In an error-strewn frame, the first final to go 16-16 since 2005, Wu Yize managed to keep his composure and make the bravest shot in some time, on the yellow, to move one away from the title.
He had one hand on the crown, with a 43 break, but opted to aim for the plant instead of breaking up the pack and missed his set-up shot on the black for incredulous drama.
Murphy returned, for potentially the last time if he missed, but he somehow held his nerve to set up a one-frame shootout for the title.
The 35th frame turned into a safety battle, with both players pulling off majestic escapes and snookers. Wu thought he had Murphy in trouble, only for the Magician to pull one out of his bag of tricks to get safe.
But Wu, off the black cushion, sent a terrific red into the middle of the pocket to put himself in a very dangerous position, when many would have played safe.
He had plenty to do still, with the black ball safe, and navigated the pack of reds with precision with all the pressure in the world his shoulders.
And all of a sudden, Wu potted the pink and discovered he had covered his next red when it was put back on its spot in an almighty error.
However, the 22-year-old got himself out of trouble with a more difficult shot with the rest, and used that confidence to clear up and become the second youngest world champion in history after Stephen Hendry.