Wu Yize scored one of the biggest wins of his fledgling career after scoring a 5-3 defeat of world number one Judd Trump to make the semi-finals of the BetVictor English Open in Brentwood.
Chinese 20-year-old Wu has established himself as one of the sport’s brightest young stars since a Rookie of the Year season in 21/22. He's gone on to qualify for the Crucible in 2023 and make the semi-finals of the 2023 Wuhan Open, where he lost to Trump.
Victory today avenges a gut-wrenching recent defeat for Wu. He led Trump 4-0 at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, before going down 5-4. It proved to be a massive win for Trump, who went on to capture the £500,000 top prize.
After losing to Trump in their first three meetings, Wu finally landed a win over the 2019 World Champion this afternoon. Wu made a fine 108 in the opener this afternoon, before the first four were ultimately shared to leave them 2-2 at the mid-session.
When play resumed, two on the bounce moved Wu one from a momentous win. Trump reduced his arrears with 56 in the seventh to make it 4-3, but a break of 62 in the eighth got Wu over the line. He now faces either Mark Selby or Ishpreet Singh Chadha in the semis.
"This game was very important to me. I wanted to beat him today, because we have played against each other three times previously and I hadn’t won. Last time in Saudi Arabia, I felt winning a game like this was just around the corner,” said former World Under-21 Champion Wu.
“I have always had this goal of winning a ranking event in mind, but when you are actually on the table, you can’t put too much pressure on yourself. Just take it one step at a time and do your best in the moment. No matter which opponent I face tomorrow, I will have more rest time than them.”
Trump said: “I think Wu was the better player and he is deservedly through to the semi-finals. He stands a better chance of doing well than me.
“I hope Wu can fulfil his potential. He has been knocking on the door for a while. I hope he wins and that he can put on a good show in the semi-finals.”
Chris Wakelin secured a place in his third ranking event semi-final after a 5-2 defeat of world number three Mark Allen.
Former Shoot Out champion Wakelin made the final of last season's Northern Ireland Open, but succumbed to a heavy defeat against current world number one Trump.
Wakelin came back from the brink yesterday evening after trailing Pang Junxu 3-0, but rallied to secure a massive 4-3 win. He now goes up against Barry Hawkins or Neil Robertson to make it two his second title match in a full format event.
Wakelin said: "It has been really tough. Every round I've played a difficult opponent but that is the nature of life on tour these days. In all honesty I'm still never going to be fancied over top 16 players in other people's eyes, but I know my game is so much stronger than a lot of people think. I've put in a lot of work behind the scenes and I'm in a good place personally. If I play my best then I am going to win."
