For only the fourth time since the World Championship has been staged at the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, the championship was decided on the 35th and deciding frame of what was one of the highest quality finals ever played, one which former world number three Neal Foulds described as the best he had seen in recent years and one which saw Wu Yize narrowly edge out Shaun Murphy 18-17 to become the second Chinese player, following Zhao Xintong's triumph last May, and becoming the youngest-ever world champion from overseas and, at the age of 22, became the second-youngest winner following Stephen Hendry, who took the title in 1990 at the age of 21 years and 106 days.
Yize, who, like Luca Brecel when he captured the title in 2023, had never previously win a match at the Crucible, began strongly, winning the first three frames and proved that he great powers of concentration when, during the third frame, he failed to be put off by a disturbance from a female protestor who had managed to jump the barrier at the front row and got into the arena, protesting about the television licence before being swiftly removed by a combination of final referee Rob Spencer and security personnel. At 3-0 down, Murphy needed to quickly make a mark in the match and he did, making breaks of 85, 98, 77, and 109 to take a 4-3 lead before Yize won the final frame of the first session to level at 4-4. Wu had attempted to make a maximum, which would have been the second-ever in a final following Mark Selby's historic break in the 2023 final, but he broke down on 65 after missing the ninth black. The second session on Sunday evening saw an impressively strong start from Wu, who won four of the first five frames as he went 8-5 ahead, Murphy pulled a couple back to make it 9-7, but Wu then took the last frame of the session with a break of 91 to take a three-frame overnight lead at 10-7.
Needing to make a strong start in attempt to claim the title he had last won in 2005, Murphy stunned Yize by taking the first five frames, with Yize seemingly struggling with his long potting, with Murphy moving 12-10 ahead before Wu got himself together and won the next three frames as he regained the lead, leading 13-12 as the two players headed into the fourth and concluding session. Wu moved 14-12 ahead as he took the first frame of the session before Murphy then took the next two to level the match at 14-14. Wu then took the 29th frame, but Murphy then recovered from being 70 points down in the 30th frame to level at 15-15. Wu then again one in front, before Murphy made a break of 131 to again level the match at 16-16. Murphy then missed a red when making a break of 45 and Wu cleared with a break of 91. He then had a great chance to clinch the title in the 34th frame but he missed a black off the spot and Murphy responded with a fine break of 75 to ensure that the destination of the world championship would be decided on the 35th and final frame. This marked the fourth time that the final had gone all the way - the first occured in April 1985 when Dennis Taylor famously defeated Steve Davis on the final black; Stephen Hendry cleared up after Jimmy White had missed a black off the spot in 1994, and Peter Ebdon also triumphed thanks to a deciding frame over Hendry in 2002. Wu made a wonderful break of 85 to ensure his place in snooker folklore and become the second Chinese world champion in the game's history.
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