Wu Yize overcame ringing phones, a protester and the efforts of Shaun Murphy to build a healthy overnight lead in his first World Snooker Championship final.
A female protester briefly interrupted play early in the match, at least one audience member was kicked out after phones rang with the players down on the shot on multiple occasions and Murphy failed to live with a barrage of scoring in the evening session as the 22-year-old Wu acclimatised nicely to the biggest match of his life.
Perhaps having been all but knocked out as Mark Allen lined up a simple winning black in their semi-final has given Wu a free hit at the title or perhaps the fearlessness of youth – a trait Murphy himself has cited as key to his own Crucible success at the age of 22 back in 2005 – is spurring him on but there is no indication of the Chinese wonderkid being overawed.
From 4-3 down, he won six of the next eight frames to build a 9-6 lead before the pair split the final two of the day to leave the younger man 10-7 to the good and needing seven more frames for victory when play resumes at 1pm on Monday.
Wu made eight 50-plus breaks, including his first century in a Crucible final in frame 10, with a remarkable display of long potting and clever break-building that has defined his impressive run to the showpiece.
No player knows how they will cope with the pressure of trying to get over the line in a World Championship final until they are actually there but the young superstar has at least given himself a great chance of finding out as he aims to match the exploits of compatriot Zhao Xintong – who became the first Chinese world champion 12 months ago.
The first session of the final was just as notable for drama off the table as on it, with a female spectator jumping over the front-row barrier to try and enter the arena, and referee Rob Spencer expertly using his skills from his previous career as a police officer to restrain her.
Ostensibly protesting about the TV licence, she was swiftly ejected by security officials, becoming the second spectator in as many days to be kicked out – joining the audience member who idiotically shouted out “never forget the Epstein files” at the start of Saturday night’s deciding frame between Wu and Allen.
In the final, Spencer also had to admonish the crowd on multiple occasions for leaving their mobiles on during play – with Murphy seemingly distracted during the second frame by a ringing phone, causing him to miss a pot on the green and throw the rest down in disgust. At the end of that frame, Spencer addressed the audience, saying: “Make sure your phones are on silent or switched off. Don’t be the person that has to be thrown out.”
Spencer then gave an even stricter warning after the mid-session interval in the evening’s play, stating: “I don’t want to have to keep doing this at the start of every single session but what’s going to happen from now on, so we’re all clear, is if a phone goes off, and the security team see who it is, you will be asked to leave.”
That didn’t stop a phone alarm going off at the start of frame 15 when Murphy was about to pot the green, and Spencer duly demanded the individual be removed from the Crucible, with the rest of the crowd clapping that decision.
On the baize, Wu had opened up a 3-0 lead in a nervy start from Murphy but the 2005 champion finally got going, with breaks of 85, 90, 77 and 109 pulling him 4-3 ahead before Wu rallied with a decent crack at a maximum but an important frame win even when that fell by the wayside.
He carried that momentum into the evening’s session as runs of 82, 89 and his first century of the final thanks to a fluked pink for a 103 saw him win four of the opening five frames for a three-frame advantage. From there, Murphy hit back to split the final four but he will still need a monumental effort on Monday to deny snooker’s newest star.
Not since Mark Selby in 2014 has a player trailing after the opening day gone on to win the World Championship final but the score in that match was also 10-7, as the “Jester from Leicester” ultimately downed great rival Ronnie O’Sullivan for his first title.
Selby’s good friend Murphy will need to take solace and inspiration from that day but the prospect of Wu in full flight will take some stopping.
