Wu Yize landed his first ranking title in some style at the International Championship on Sunday, with runner-up John Higgins expecting big things from a man who reminds him of snooker icon Paul Hunter.
The 22-year-old beat the man 28 years his senior 10-6 in the Nanjing final, making breaks of 86, 62, 110, 113, 137, 87, 80 and 108 along the way to a thoroughly deserved win.
It was his third ranking final and after two defeats he finds himself with the first trophy of his professional career, but it is unlikely to be his last.
Wu played Higgins as a wildcard at the 2019 International Championship when he was just 15 years old and only lost 6-5 to the four-time world champion.
The Wizard of Wishaw will not have been surprised to see Wu’s brilliance on Sunday, but he was still thoroughly impressed.
‘He was striking the ball beautifully. He was by far the better player,’ said the Scot. ‘It reminded me so much of playing Paul Hunter. The way he gets through the ball and gets so much action on it. He is a brilliant player.
‘I’m delighted his mum and dad are here. It brings back memories for me.
‘It could open the floodgates. It goes to show the good hands snooker is in. I’m glad that I’ll probably be retiring in a couple of years with guys like that potting them off the lampshades. He is a total star.’
Comparisons to Hunter relate to his dashing, attractive and seriously skillful style of play and will be taken as a great compliment.
The Yorkshireman won the Masters three times and claimed three ranking titles before tragically dying at just 27 years old in 2006 due to cancer.
Presented with this comparison, Wu said: ‘Paul Hunter was really good-looking! I think I will continue to wark hard and try and better myself.’
The £175,000 top prize takes the 22-year-old into the world’s top 16 for the first time, where he becomes the youngest member of that elite group.
Just last month he was asked what his targets for the season are and he told Metro at the Northern Ireland Open: ‘Top 16 and win one tournament. Last year I had two finals. I’ll just keep going.’
It is job done on those fronts and he will now go to the UK Championship later this month as a seeded player for the first time.
Not only did he handily beat Higgins in the final, but also downed Judd Trump 6-4 from 4-0 down, then whitewashed Barry Hawkins 6-0, making a break over 60 in all those 12 frames he won on the spin.
Wu beat world champion Zhao Xintong in the semi-finals before his triumph over the Scot completed a stunning week in Nanjing.
‘At times I honestly felt quite desperate’
‘Honestly, it feels unbelievable. After beating Judd Trump, I started thinking about the whole journey and it was surreal,’ said the champion.
‘I think one of the good things was that I started both sessions of the final really well. Having a lead helped me to relax. Everything went pretty much the way I wanted.
‘It has been a long wait since reaching the final at the Scottish Open and the English Open last year. At times I honestly felt quite desperate, but deep down I always believed I had the ability to win a title. Every day I kept thinking about it. I had a strong will to lift a trophy. That belief carried me through this week.’
It seems very unlikely that Wu’s success at the International Championship will be a flash in the pan, with pundits tipping him for the top for a while.
At just 14 years old he won the Under-21 World Championship and has already been a pro since 2021, catching the eye as his game develops between home in China and time in Sheffield.
‘We’re seeing something incredibly special’
Speaking after his defeat in the English Open final to Neil Robertson last year, former Masters champion Alan McManus said of Wu: ‘I’ve been a fan of him for a few years, but it just dawned on me tonight. I know he’s not in this class, not anywhere near it, but he reminds me of John Higgins.
‘I witnessed John as a kid come of age very, very quickly at this level and I thought, my goodness we’re seeing something incredibly special.
‘We have not seen the last of Wu Yize, not by a long shot, he’s going to win these things.’
‘He reminds me of Ronnie so much’
1997 world champion Ken Doherty also made a significant comparison, saying of Wu during last season’s UK Championship qualifiers: ‘There’s something about Wu Yize, I think he’s one of the most talented young players coming through. He’s already knocking on the door and I think it’s only a matter of time before he gets his hands on a trophy.
‘He has the pedigree, he has the work ethic, the diligence and the temperament above everything else. Very talented boy and I think we’re going to see a lot of him this season and the upcoming seasons.
‘He can play left-handed as well. He reminds me of Ronnie so much because he practices at least an hour or an hour-and-a-half every single day on playing left-handed, so he will go through his whole routine, the line-ups left-handed every single day.
‘He’s very good with both hands, he’s brilliant. I’ve got a lot of time for him, he’s a lovely lad and I think he’s going to go right to the top.’
A World Championship tip from a legend
Three-time world champ Mark Williams beat Wu 10-8 in the opening round at the Crucible this year but said he could see the youngster as world champion one day.
‘Some of the balls he can pot are just incredible,’ said the Welshman. ‘I don’t like saying it because I just beat him, but he’s got the potential to win this tournament absolutely no question. His long-potting was unbelievable.
‘I can’t really outscore him or out pot him but I can still try and outwit him, I suppose.’
One tournament win does not make a top player, but with the likes of Higgins, Williams, Doherty and McManus expecting plenty more from Wu, it would be a surprise if all those snooker heroes were wrong.
What is likely before that, though, is that Wu has enjoyed himself after landing the biggest win of his career.
At the Northern Ireland Open he battled past Scott Donaldson in his opener and told Metro of why he found the match a struggle: ‘Difficult, I couldn’t concentrate.
‘A few days before I had a good birthday with some friends, we had a party. Not practicing.’
Asked what he got up to to celebrate, he added: ‘Drinks. Party.’
There may well have been more of the same after lifting the trophy in Nanjing, but then comes the UK Championship and the Masters, where the newest star of snooker can really shine.