World Snooker Championship 2026 results: Shaun Murphy powers past John Higgins to reach Crucible final
His victory means China have a finalist for a second successive year and it vindicates his decision to move to the UK as a 16-year-old to pursue his dream.
Wu, who initially lived in a windowless flat and slept on the same bed as his father after the move, is now just one win away from the sport’s biggest prize and a winner’s cheque of £500,000.
And judging by the manner he advanced past Peifan Lei, Mark Selby, Hossein Vafaei and now Allen, he looks ready follow to in Zhao Xintong’s footsteps – having been tipped as a future world champion by both Ronnie O’Sullivan and Murphy.
“I feel I am still not recovering from the nerves. I feel sorry for Mark,” said Wu after his triumph.
“I felt like I was losing the match, especially the second black in that frame. But I was able to take the opportunity.
“In the last session I made some mistakes in safety play and then towards the end I was lucky. I want to give my best efforts and everything I have got to try to win the World Championship.”
For most of the evening Allen had held himself together, enjoying runs of 82 and 57 as he edged in front three times only to be pegged back at 14-14 by Wu, who rarely deviated from his attacking style and was rewarded with breaks of 50, 126 and 74.
Allen regained the initiative with a composed 65, and when Wu missed a red to the left middle while on 58, it allowed his opponent to deliver a devastating riposte to move 16-14 up.
But with the winning line in sight Allen twitched on a red to the middle in the following frame to set in chain a remarkable sequence of events.
Northern Irishman Allen had been aiming to become the oldest first-time finalist in Crucible history, having lost in the semi-finals twice previously.
However, at the age of 40 and with 20 failed attempts to win snooker’s greatest prize behind him, he may now be left wondering whether his time will ever come.
