Wu Yize, born on 14 October 2023, is from Lanzhou, the capital and largest city of Gansu province in northwestern China.

As a young boy, he studied snooker with coach Roger Leighton. His talent was evident from a very young age. He won the IBSF U-21 World Championship in 2018 when he was just fourteen years old, defeating Pongsakorn Chongjairak from Thailand 6–4 in the final. As a result, he was invited to several professional events the next season.

He was given a wildcard entry to the 2019 International Championship in Daqing, where he pushed John Higgins very hard: he lost 5–6. At the 2019 Six-red World Championship in Bangkok, he progressed through the group stage. In the last 32 round he faced Higgins again, this time losing 4–6. Wu also played in the 2019 World Open in Yushan where he lost to Luca Brecel by 2–5 but made breaks of 85 and 130 in the two frames he won.Here is he knocking in a 147 in the club in Lanzhou.

Wu was awarded a professional tour card for the 2021–22 and 2022–23 snooker seasons; he was nominated by CBSA based on his performances on the CBSA tour. At the end of his debut season, he was awarded the “World Snooker Tour’s Rookie of that Year” recognition following three last 32 ranking event appearances (2021 UK Championship, 2022 European Masters, 2022 Turkish Masters). Wu had played 21 matches that season, winning 11 of them.

In the next season, 2022/23, Wu reached his first quarter-final – at the 2022 European Masters – and, very importantly managed to qualify for the Crucible, having beaten Alan Taylor (10-7), Tian Pengfei (10-2) and Chris Wakelin (10-8) en route. He lost to Neil Robertson in the last 32 at the main venue (10-3).

2023/24 was a lesser season for Wu with one notable exception: in the 2023 Wuhan Open, he reached his first semi-final: he beat Marco Fu (5-3), Ryan Day (5-2), Stephen Maguire (5-4) and Aaron Hill (5-4) before going out to Judd Trump (6-1) in the SF. Wu finished the season ranked 42nd.

Wu joined the Grove at the start of the 2024/25 season. He reached the final in two ranking events: in the 2024 English Open he lost 9-7 to stable mate Neil Robertson and in the 2024 Scottish Open he lost by 9-5 to Lei Peifan. In the second half of the season, his results were more modest. He did however qualify for the Crucible where he narrowly lost to Mark Williams (10-8). Willo of course went on to reach the final …
The 2025/26 season saw Wu progress massively. He started slowly but the big breakthrough came at the 2025 International Championship. He won that event beating John Higgins – no less – by 10-6 in the final, and that win propelled him into the top 16 in the rankings. That allowed him to compete in the 2026 Masters, where he reached the semi-finals losing in a deciding frame to Kyren Wilson, the eventual Champion.
He qualified for the Winners Group in the 2026 Championship League Snooker by winning Group 6, beating Zhao Xintong in the Group’s final. He then reached the Final of the Winners group, where, alas, he lost to Mark Selby.
His good form continued though: in the 2026 Welsh Open, he reached the semi-finals where he lost to the eventual champion Barry Hawkins (6-4). In the 2026 World Open, Wu reached the semi-finals again, this time losing by 6-5 to Ronnie O’Sullivan.
Come the 2026 World Championship … and Wu’s greatest win so far: Wu became the 2026 World Champion! And he had to earn it! He beat Mark Allen in a deciding frame in the semi-finals, and then Shaun Murphy, in a deciding frame again in the final!

The 2026/27 season brought more success for Wu. On Sunday October 4, 2026, Wu beat Yuan Sijun by 10-5 to win the prestigious Shenzhen Open.

Wu Yize Palmares:

2025 International Championship: beat John Higgins by 10-6 in the final
2026 World Championship: beat Shaun Murphy b 18-17 in the final
2026 Shenzhen Open: beat Yuan Sijun by 10-5 in the final