Results and key moments as Wu wins 2026 World Championship

A memorable 2026 World Snooker Championship was rounded off with a thrilling 18-17 win for China's Wu Yize against England's Shaun Murphy in the final on Monday, 4 May.

Wu, 22, became the second-youngest champion in Crucible history and the second Chinese winner, following Zhao Xintong's success in 2025.

Wu had stared defeat in the face in his semi-final against Mark Allen, who missed a simple match-winning black to allow his opponent to draw level and, subsequently, take the final-frame decider.

In the final, Wu put in a superb performance to take a 10-7 lead overnight and held off a Murphy fightback to win the title in dramatic fashion.

Murphy, 43, had knocked out four-time champion John Higgins to edge closer to a second world crown - but he fell just short of adding to his 2005 Crucible victory.

The first eight frames of the final were shared before Wu took control during the second session, forging an 8-5 lead and maintaining a three-frame advantage at the halfway stage.

But Wu, who had not won a match at the Crucible before the 2026 tournament, struggled in the third session and Murphy reeled off five frames in a row to move 12-10 up - only for Wu to rediscover some form and win the next four without reply.

Murphy made it 14-14 and although Wu went a frame clear on three more occasions, Murphy was able to level the match each time to force a decider.

In the 35th and final frame, a composed break of 85 got Wu over the winning line.

Final result

Wu Yize (10) 18-17 Shaun Murphy (8)

Murphy powered to a 17-15 victory over Higgins to reach his fifth Crucible final.

The second semi-final was an all-time classic - in the second session Wu and Allen played out the longest frame in Crucible history, lasting more than 100 minutes - and China's Wu went on to win the match in a final-frame decider, but only after Allen missed a simple black to go through in the previous frame.

Semi-final results

Shaun Murphy (8) 17-15 John Higgins (5)

Wu Yize (10) 17-16 Mark Allen (14)

Zhao's hopes of defending his title were ended in the quarter-finals by Murphy.

Zhao, 29, had been aiming to become the only first-time winner to defend his crown since the tournament moved to the Crucible Theatre in 1977.

Wu ended the run of Iran's Hossein Vafaei, the only qualifier to win a match at the tournament, with an impressive victory.

Quarter-final results

Mark Allen (14) 13-11 Barry Hawkins (11)

Shaun Murphy (8) 13-10 Zhao Xintong (1)

Wu Yize (10) 13-8 Hossein Vafaei

John Higgins (5) 13-10 Neil Robertson (4)

Ronnie O'Sullivan's bid for a record eighth world title came to an end with a 13-12 second-round defeat by Higgins, the man he beat to win his first world title in 2001.

Iran's Vafaei held his nerve to knock out second seed Judd Trump 13-12.

Former champions Kyren Wilson, Mark Williams and Mark Selby also went out in the last 16, leaving 10th seed Wu as the highest seed left in the bottom half of the draw.

Second round results

Shaun Murphy (8) 13-3 Xiao Guodong (9)

Zhao Xintong (1) 13-9 Ding Junhui (16)

Barry Hawkins (11) 13-9 Mark Williams (6)

Mark Allen (14) 13-9 Kyren Wilson (3)

John Higgins (5) 13-12 Ronnie O'Sullivan (12)

Wu Yize (10) 13-11 Mark Selby (7)

Neil Robertson (4) 13 -7 Chris Wakelin (13)

Hossein Vafaei 13-12 Judd Trump (2)

For only the third time in Crucible history, all but one of the 16 seeds made it through to the second round.

Vafaei was the only qualifier to progress thanks to a comprehensive 10-3 victory over 15th seed Si Jiahui.

Qualifiers Stan Moody, Liam Pullen, Antoni Kowalski and He Guoqiang all made their Crucible debuts but went out in round one.

First round results

Zhao Xintong (1) 10-7 Liam Highfield

Mark Allen (14) 10-6 Zhang Anda

Barry Hawkins (11) 10-4 Matthew Stevens

Mark Williams (6) 10-4 Antoni Kowalski *

Xiao Guodong (9) 10-6 Zhou Yuelong

Ding Junhui (16) 10-5 David Gilbert

John Higgins (5) 10-7 Ali Carter

Kyren Wilson (3) 10-7 Stan Moody *

Wu Yize (10) 10-2 Lei Peifan

Judd Trump (2) 10-5 Gary Wilson

Shaun Murphy (8) 10-9 Fan Zhengyi

Chris Wakelin (13) 10-6 Liam Pullen *

Ronnie O'Sullivan (12) 10-2 He Guoqiang *

Mark Selby (7) 10-2 Jak Jones

Hossein Vafaei 10-3 Si Jiahui (15)

Neil Robertson (4) 10-4 Pang Junxu

* denotes Crucible debutant

Chang Bingyu made a 147 break against Luca Brecel in the qualifying tournament to earn himself a £147,000 bonus.

The Chinese player, who lost his match to 2023 world champion Brecel, also made a 147 in the qualifying tournament for the UK Championship and earned the £147,000 bonus on offer for any player making two maximums in snooker's major tournaments.

The highest break at the Crucible was 145, made by Allen in the second session of his semi-final against Wu.

Wu was next with a 142 break in the same match.