Chinese sensation Wu Yize and the 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy will battle it out on Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday for the greatest prize in the game of snooker - the 2026 Halo World Snooker Championship - each of them having reached the final following highly dramatic semi-finals, the most dramatic seen at the Crucible possibly since Ronnie O'Sullivan overcame Mark Selby and Kyren Wilson narrowly defeated Anthony McGill in two tremendous matches (albeit played behind closed doors) back in the summer of 2020.
Murphy had started off Saturday afternoon's concluding session trailing 13-11, but he was level two minutes short of a half-hour with breaks of 132 followed by 127, taking his career total of centuries to 777, putting himself equal with the 'King of the Crucible' Stephen Hendry. The next two frames before the final mid-session interval went the way of the Wizard of Wishaw before Murphy levelled again at 15-15 with efforts of 107 and 78. Trailing by 26-8 in the 31st frame, Higgins attempted to pot a tough-looking red to centre, however it caught the near jaw and finished close to a baulk corner, giving Murphy the opportunity to make a break of 38 and put his nose in front. Hoping to take the match to a deciding frame, Higgins was on a break of 50 when an attempt at a short range black remained in the jaws, with Murphy responding with 35, before a brief safety exchange concluded with a mistake from Higgins, who left the red available to a baulk corner and Murphy composed himself to clear to the pink and put himself into the final for the first time since losing to Stuart Bingham in 2015.
Wu Yize, meanwhile, managed to claw himself from the very jaws of defeat to claim his place in his first ever world championship final following one of the most dramatic matches ever played at Sheffield's iconic Crucible Theatre and which had included the longest-ever frame to be played at the Crucible, lasting a remarkable 100 minutes and 19 seconds.
Mark Allen will forever be regretting the simple black off the spot which, at 16-14, would have ensured his presence in his first ever world championship final, the black rattling in the jaws of the pocket and which was then swiftly dispatched by Yize, who even now must still cannot believe that he is still in the tournament following some of the most dramatic scenes in a semi-final, indeed in any match played at the Crucible.
Saturday evening's dramatic concluding session opened with Allen taking advantage of Wu losing position when on a break of 50 and winning the subsequent tactical battle to lead 12-11 before Wu took the next. He was in again in frame 25 when he again lost position on 31 and Allen took advantage again with a break of 82 to lead 13-12. Wu then made a wonderful break of 126 to once again level, but Allen again edged in front with a break of 57, Wu again levelled matters with 74, only for Allen to make 65 in the next to take a 15-14 lead.
In frame 30, it seemed as if Wu was going to level the match until he missed a red to the centre pocket when he was on a break of 58. After Allen made 22, he then again got the better of the tactical exchanges, making a clearance of 45 to go two clear at 16-14. Wu then made a tremendous clearance of 67 to keep his hopes alive at 16-15 before nerves completely took over in the 32nd frame - Allen failing to pot the final red when leading 62-52, before Wu's attempted clearance ended with a missed pink. Allen then clipped in the pink from distance and found himself perfect on the black, but, to the complete and utter shock and dismay from all those watching in the Crucible, couldn't hit the target to get him over the line.
In the deciding frame, Allen again had first opportunity and had made a break of 47 before he ran out of position, before Wu responded with a 22 before being rather unfortunate not to land a red when he split the pack. Waiting for the chance to create another opening, he completed a remarkable victory with a tremendous break of 71.
Wu was born on 14th October 2003, just two years before his final opponent claimed his first world title, he turned professional in 2021 and in 2022 was named as World Snooker Tour's 'Rookie of the Year'. He first appeared at the Crucible in 2023, having been 1-5 and 4-7 down before defeating future Scottish Open champion Chris Wakelin 10-8 in the final qualifying round before he succumbed 10-3 in the last 32 at the Crucible to 2010 champion Neil Robertson. He reached the semi-finals of the Snooker Shoot-Out in December 2024 before reaching the final of the Scottish Open the following week, where he lost to fellow Chinese player, Lei Peifan. He again qualified for the televised stages of the World Championship in 2025, beating twice world finalist Matthew Stevens 10-9 in the final qualifying round before he lost in the first round to another Welshman in Mark Williams, going down 10-8. In November last year, he reached the final of the International Championship where, after wins over Judd Trump and Barry Hawkins, and defending world champion Zhao Xintong before claiming the title with a 10-6 victory in the final against John Higgins. In January, at the Masters, he impressed in heavily defeating Shaun Murphy 6-2 and going to the semi-finals where he narrowly lost 6-5 to eventual winner Kyren Wilson.
Shaun Murphy was born in Harlow on 10th August 1982 and turned professional in 1998, being awarded the World Snooker Newcomer of the Year in 2000, the same year he won the English Open Championship. His first professional tournament success came when he defeated Mark Davis 6-1 to claim the Benson and Hedges Professional Championship, making a maximum break at the following year's championship. He first qualifed for the televised stages of the World Championship in 2002, where he was defeated 10-4 by seven-times champion Stephen Hendry in the first round, the following year, he lost on the final black in the first round to 1997 champion Ken Doherty. After failing to qualify for the 2004 World Championship, Murphy memorably played some excellent snooker in claiming the title for the first time in 2005, the last time the tournament was sponsored by Embassy. After defeating Chris Small 10-5 in the first round, he defeated John Higgins 13-8, Steve Davis 13-4, and, in the semi-final, Peter Ebdon 17-12, before he defeated Wales' Matthew Stevens 18-16 in a high quality final to lift the trophy for the first time. Overall in his career so far, Murphy has claimed 30 ranking titles and 25 non-ranking titles, which included twice being winner at the Masters.
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