Murphy rallies from 3-0 down to level Wu in World Championship final
Murphy overturned a 3-0 deficit to level Wu Yize 4-4, turning the final’s opening session into a test of nerve, stamina and experience.
Shaun Murphy dragged the World Championship final back from the brink on Sunday, erasing a 3-0 deficit to finish the opening session level at 4-4 with Wu Yize at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. In a best-of-35 final that will be decided on first to 18, the first afternoon told a clear story about how quickly a title match can swing when a 22-year-old challenger meets a veteran chasing a second crown after 21 years.
Wu came out with control and conviction, chiselling out an early lead while Murphy looked strangely flat. The Chinese player opened 3-0 ahead, showing the sort of poise that had already carried him through a dramatic route to the final, including a 17-16 victory over Mark Allen after coming from 16-14 behind in the semi-finals. Murphy, in contrast, looked unsettled at first, but the 2005 champion found his range in time to stop the session becoming a rout.
The turning point came when Murphy settled into his scoring rhythm. He answered with breaks of 85, 90 and 77, then compiled the first century of the final to pull level and change the atmosphere of the match. What had looked like Wu’s platform became a reminder of Murphy’s tournament pedigree. This was Murphy’s 24th Crucible appearance and his fifth world final, a stage on which he has twice before fallen short since lifting the trophy in 2005 at the age of 22. If he wins again, he would become only the seventh player to claim multiple world titles at the Crucible.
The session was also briefly disrupted in the third frame when a woman vaulted the front row in a protest against the BBC licence fee. Match referee Rob Spencer intervened and removed the protester before play resumed, an uneasy interruption in a final already charged with significance. Wu later steadied himself and squared the match at 4-4, showing why he had reached a first world final after two first-round exits at the Crucible in 2023 and 2025.
For Wu, the occasion carried wider weight as well. He became the third Chinese player to reach the World Championship final, after Ding Junhui and Zhao Xintong, and the first from Lanzhou to do so. For Murphy, the draw at the end of the first session was more than recovery; it was proof that a long-form final can still be seized back through experience, shot-making and patience. The remaining three sessions, with the match running through Monday night, now begin on level terms.
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