China’s Wu Yize blitzed a victory over Scotland’s four-time World Champion John Higgins to claim the 2025 World Snooker Tour International Championship title on November 9th in Nanjing, China.
This is Wu’s first career ranking crown, which lifted his world ranking from No. 22 to No. 13, putting him inside the top 16 for the first time. This win also makes Wu the ninth-ranked event winner from China’s mainland. He now qualifies automatically for the UK Championship.
Wu maintained strong form throughout the tournament, defeating four top-16 players in succession — Zhang Anda, Judd Trump, Barry Hawkins and Zhao Xintong — before the final.
“It’s unbelievable, I feel like I’m dreaming,” Wu said. “I still remember the last time I played against Higgins. I was only 16 then, playing with a wildcard and losing to him. Never did I think our next meeting would be at the final of this tournament. It feels absolutely amazing.”
“Honestly, it feels unbelievable. After beating Judd Trump, I started thinking about the whole journey, and it was surreal,” said Wu. “I think one of the good things was that I started both sessions of the final really well. Having a lead helped me relax. Everything went pretty much the way I wanted.”
In fact, the supremely talented 22-year-old’s potential has been clear for many years. He became World Under-21 Champion back in 2018, aged just 14. Four years later, in 2022, he was named Rookie of the Year after his debut season on tour.
Written by Yetao Gu, additional reporting by Xinhua and World Snooker Tour.
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