Wu Yize came out firing at a fractious Crucible to establish a three-frame lead over Shaun Murphy ahead of Monday’s concluding sessions of the World Snooker Championship final in Sheffield.
The 22-year-old produced a stunning display of long potting and composed break-building to edge clear of the 2005 champion with a last-frame clearance of 91 handing him a deserved 10-7 advantage.
The high-octane action on the baize was mirrored in the arena with a female spectator thrown out by security officials after shouting out and apparently trying to invade the stage midway through the third frame of the match.
Frequent phone interruptions irritated Murphy, leading referee Rob Spencer to admonish the audience at the start of each session — and show no mercy by turfing out a spectator whose phone went off during the evening session.
Wu plainly stepped up a gear after appearing to show some ill effects from his late-night semi-final win over Mark Allen when the final began on Sunday afternoon, letting a hard-earned 3-0 lead dissolve into a 4-4 tie after the first eight frames.
Wu had never looked entirely comfortable despite his fast start, and it was little surprise when Murphy stirred, a break of 85 sending him into the interval in a much brighter mood then breaks of 90 and 77 pulling him level.
He was suddenly looking looking fragile, missing easy shots and reluctant to go for his trademark long pots, and the experienced Murphy sensed weakness, powering in the first century of the final to extend Wu’s agony.
But Wu rallied in afternoon’s final frame, firing nine reds and eight blacks before jawing a black to the middle pocket and riding his luck as Murphy’s protracted search for snookers came to nothing.
The evening session proved a different matter as Wu, bidding to become the second youngest player to win the tournament after Stephen Hendry, blasted back out of the blocks.
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Breaks of 82 and 103 saw him establish a 6-4 lead, and he retained his two-frame advantage at the interval after cancelling out Murphy’s well-taken response of 75 in the 11th frame.
Murphy continued to look ill at ease as Wu returned to extend his lead with another exhilarating break of 89, but the 43-year-old capitalised well on a fluked red with a break of 70 to arrest Wu’s surge.
After splitting the next two frames, Murphy fashioned a strong chance to escape the evening just one adrift, but played a poor shot after taking a lead of 39, leaving the stage for Wu to ram in another brilliant long red and finish the night the much happier man.
Wu’s stunning assault on this year’s Crucible crown earned rich praise from Hendry, on punditry duties for the BBC, who said: “He’s just brilliant. He just plays the game properly. He just goes for his shots.”
Fellow multiple world champion Steve Davis said: “The game’s changing, and the likes of Wu Yize are changing the face of snooker by making it much more aggressive, and the players coming through, they’ve got to copy this, because you can’t play safe.”
