Wu Yize cements China’s status as premier snooker force as younger generation takes over

Perhaps of all the noise that emanated from Wu Yize’s historic victory in the World Snooker Championship final on Monday evening, it was 12 simple words from the godfather of Chinese snooker that meant the most.

For the second successive year, China has a world champion in the sport the nation has taken to its heart, with Wu emulating Zhao Xintong’s win 12 months earlier after defeating Shaun Murphy in one of the great finals. But there is a fair argument none of this would be possible without Ding Junhui laying the groundwork over the last 20 years.

Ding, a beaten world finalist 10 years ago who was never quite able to take the final and most decisive step, took to the social media platform Weibo and wrote: “This is not just a breakthrough, rather our era is approaching now!” Gone are the days with Ding being China’s sole flag bearer for the sport; there are now five Chinese players in the top 16.

Two of them, Zhao and Wu, are inside the top four, and Ding’s talk of new eras beginning for snooker feels especially pertinent on multiple fronts, not just for the sport in China. Yes, there is now no doubting that the country snooker has been determined to crack for years finally has a footing as the premier force of the baize.

But there is also a gear shift towards a younger generation as well as an influx from Asia. Wu became the fourth consecutive first-time winner at the Crucible, the first time that has happened. The ages of Kyren Wilson, Luca Brecel, Zhao and Wu at the time of lifting the trophy? 32, 29, 28 and 22.

Dominated by names such as Ronnie O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams for so long, perhaps snooker is now finally a young man’s game. There are green shoots of hope on this side of the world too; the 19-year-old Stan Moody and 20-year-old Liam Pullen made their Crucible debuts this year, as did the first Pole: Antoni Kowalski, 22.

But this year’s beaten finalist believes European snooker is already losing ground on China given the widespread investment the sport has had in Asia, which was kickstarted by Ding’s emergence 20 years ago. “It’s been a wonderful tournament for newcomers,” Murphy said after defeat.