China's Wu Yize celebrates winning the World Snooker Championship (Darren Staples)
China's Wu Yize won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final on Monday.
Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre.
The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year.
Wu is also the second youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990.
"I have been trying to go for this for ages. For the past few months, I have been living the same life. I'm so happy that I could play well today," Wu said.
Wu's father and mother wiped away tears of joy before joining him for the trophy presentation.
"My parents are the true champions. Since I made the decision to drop out of school, my dad has been by my side," Wu said.Β
"My mum has also been going through a lot over the years, they are the source of my strength, I love them so much."
Asked how he will celebrate, Wu said: "I just want to have a good sleep. I have been feeling nerves all the time since before the match, so now I just want to go to bed!"
Murphy, who has lost four World Championship finals since winning in 2005, added: "I hate being right, but we had a great game in China earlier this season. I came out afterwards and said he would be world champion one day.Β
"It's just a real shame that it was today, but I couldn't have given it any more. I played the best shots I could. I just didn't get my chance."
- Wu's title march -
Wu led 10-7 after Sunday's play and was 13-12 up following the first session on Monday.
But England's Murphy pushed Wu all the way to the finish line, levelling at 16-16 with a gritty century break.
Wu recovered from 45-0 down to record a brilliant 91 clearance to go 17-16 ahead.
He moved 43-0 up with the title in his sights, but a missed black gave Murphy the chance to draw level again with a 75 break.
The balance of power in the final frame tipped Wu's way when Murphy left a difficult red that the Chinese player stroked into the middle pocket, kick-starting a break of 85 that took him to the title.
It was the first World Championship final to go to the deciding frame since Peter Ebdon beat Hendry 18-17 in 2002.
From Lanzhou in the north-west of China, Wu turned professional aged 17 and made a transformative move to England three years ago to join the growing stable of Chinese players based in Sheffield.
Initially living in a windowless flat and sleeping on the same bed as his father, Wu's switch eventually paid dividends.
Runners-up finishes at the English Open and Scottish Open in 2024 laid the foundations for the emerging star's march to the world title.
He beat John Higgins in the International Championship last year to clinch his first ranking title.
The youngest player in the world's top 16, his run at this year's World Championship included eye-catching wins against Mark Selby and Mark Allen.
Ronnie O'Sullivan once labelled Wu a "more dynamic" version of the legendary Steve Davis.
Like O'Sullivan and Davis, Wu can now call himself a world champion.
Aaron Hardieβs brilliant all-round performance ensured Peshawar Zalmi clinched their second Pakistan Super League cricket title with a five-wicket win over newcomers Hyderabad Kingsmen, despite an early wobble in the run chase in the final.
Hardie grabbed 4-27 to bowl out Hyderabad for a below-par 129 all out in 18 overs and then hit a fluent 56 not out off 39 balls to anchor Peshawar to 130-5 in 15.2 overs, in front of a packed crowd at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Sunday.
It completed a redemption arc for Peshawarβs captain Babar Azam, who finished the franchise-based T20 tournament as its leading run-scorer after finding himself in and out of Pakistanβs T20 squad in recent years.
βItβs a very big achievement for me, for Peshawar Zalmi and all the fans,β Babar said after winning his first PSL title as skipper.
βThroughout the tournament, weβve performed really well as a team β¦ Every player executed the plans they were given in batting, bowling, and fielding. Our plan was to go match by match.β
Peshawar Zalmi captain Babar Azam celebrates after receiving the trophy [Arif Ali/AFP]
The crowd at the Gaddafi Stadium in Babarβs hometown chanted his name and erupted in joy when Hardie scored the winning runs for the team in yellow and pink kits.
Peshawar, who won the toss and chose to chase, had slumped to 40-4 inside the first five overs after losing Babar for a golden duck, while Mohammad Haris, Kusal Mendis, and Michael Bracewell also fell for single-digit scores.
But Hardie, who smashed nine fours, then combined in a match-winning stand of 85 runs with Abdul Samad (48), who missed out on his half-century before holing out in the deep when Peshawar needed only five runs for victory.
βIt was just a great game of cricket,β Hardie said. βKingsmen came out of the blocks really hard. Theyβve certainly had a lot of momentum from the last couple of games and they carried that in, but Iβm really proud of the way the boys were able to fight back.β
Aaron Hardie, left, was named the player of the final [Arif Ali/AFP]
Peshawar were favourites for the title after losing only one game in the tournament, with Babar, who scored two centuries, equalling Fakhar Zamanβs PSL record of 588 runs in one edition of the tournament.
Earlier, Saim Ayub (54) scored a fighting half-century to help Hyderabad post 129.
Hyderabad had a productive power play of 69-2, despite Hardie having captain Marnus Labuschagne (20) caught behind off a rising delivery, and Maaz Sadaqatβs early aggression was cut short to just 11 runs when he half-heartedly pulled pace bowler Mohammad Basit to deep backward square leg in the first over.
However, Hyderabad lost momentum and crashed to 73-6 in the space of nine balls after the power play for just two runs.
The slide began when Usman Khan, coming into the final with half-centuries in the last three successive games, was trapped leg before wicket by the tournamentβs leading wicket-taker Sufyan Moqim (1-23).
Irfan Khan and Kusal Perera were run out due to some sharp fielding by Bracewell, and between those dismissals, Glenn Maxwell was undone by Nahid Ranaβs (2-22) pace and got caught first ball while going for a pull against the Bangladesh fast bowler.
Ayub stretched the total beyond the 100-run mark with a knock of 54 off 50 balls before he fell in Hardieβs last over as he top-edged a pull to mid-on, before the fast bowler wrapped up the innings by having No 11 batter Akif Javed caught behind.
Spectators cheered for Babar Azamβs Peshawar in his hometown [Arif Ali/AFP]
The Australian batter, who was visibly moved to tears after leading Hyderabad into the final in a dramatic last-over win over Islamabad United in the second qualifier on Friday, admitted that his team did not post an imposing target.
βAs a batting group, we probably left a few runs out there,β Labuschagne said. βWe showed once again that belief in the side and what we can do, putting them four for 40, but just not enough runs on the board tonight.β
Hyderabad had a fairytale run in the tournament when they came back strongly after losing their first four league games, and also knocked out both former champions Multan Sultans and Islamabad United in the playoffs.
βTonight hurts,β Labuschagne said. βBut reflecting on what an amazing tournament weβve put together, coming from four losses to winning four in a row, getting bowled out for 80 then winning by 100, and then winning two games to get into the final, weβve made so many great memories and Iβm just so proud of the team, itβs been an awesome effort.β
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