On May 5, 2026, the World Snooker Championship concluded with a thrilling final. Chinese teenager Wu Yize defeated Shaun Murphy 18-17 to claim the title, becoming the first post-00s snooker world champion and the second Chinese player after Zhao Xintong to win the prestigious event.
The following morning, at a press conference themed “Launching the 15th Five-Year Plan – Writing a New Chapter for Chinese-style Modernization in Gansu,” Gansu Provincial Governor Ren Zhenhe specifically highlighted Wu Yize’s victory.
According to a post on the “Gansu Release” official WeChat account, Governor Ren said during the conference, “During the recent May Day holiday, Gansu’s landscapes were beautiful, and our sports and tourism sectors were vibrant. On May 1, Lanzhou Railway Bureau set a new single-day record for passenger volume in the province, transporting 482,000 people. On May 5, our province’s post-00s rising star Wu Yize won the 2026 World Snooker Championship. This reflects the strong start and vibrant momentum of our 15th Five-Year Plan. Today, I am very pleased to meet with media friends alongside my colleagues, and I thank you for your continued support.”
As reported by The Paper, Wu Yize defeated Shaun Murphy in the final. At 22 years and 203 days old, Wu became the second youngest champion in Crucible history, behind only Stephen Hendry, who won at 21 years and 105 days in 1990. Notably, Murphy previously held the record for youngest champion at age 22 in 2005.
After the match, Wu Yize said in an interview, “It was belief that kept me going. I have always dreamed of the world championship. No one in this tournament wanted it more than I did. I repeated the same routine day after day for a whole month. I was willing to give everything to achieve it.”
Wu Yize was born in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, in October 2003. He started playing snooker at age 7 under the influence of his father, Wu Jiepin.
Following his victory, the Lanzhou Snooker Association issued a congratulatory letter, praising him for “starting his journey with snooker at age 7 by the Yellow River, carrying his dreams to the UK, and after more than a decade of hard work, rising from a Northwestern teenager to a world champion.” The letter called him “a pride of his hometown and a role model for young snooker enthusiasts across Gansu and the whole country.”