Chinese 20-year-old Wu Yize is through to the first ranking event final of his career after a blistering 6-0 defeat of India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha at the BetVictor English Open.
Wu has long been regarded as one of the World Snooker Tour’s brightest young talents. He enjoyed a superb maiden season on the circuit in 21/22, earning the Rookie of the Year award.
He went on a brilliant run to the final stages of the World Championship in 2023, winning three matches to qualify for the Crucible. Wu defeated Chris Wakelin on Judgement Day to secure his ticket to the Theatre of Dreams, where he lost to Neil Robertson. This evening sees Wakelin take on Robertson in the second semi-final.
Last season saw Wu make the first ranking event semi-final of his career. Having beat the likes of Marco Fu and Stephen Maguire to make the last four, he lost out to Judd Trump. Wu has already had his revenge this week, beating 2019 World Champion Trump in the quarters.
Wu becomes China’s 14th ranking event finalist, while defeat for Singh Chadha ends what has been a brilliant run for the Mumbai cueman. His maiden semi-final appearance sees him become India’s first player to reach the last four of a ranking event since 2013.
Singh Chadha scored a late night 6-5 win over Mark Selby and the hangover from his heroics appeared prominently, as he struggled to settle. He had his share of chances, but was unable to capitalise as Wu ruthlessly punished him to reach the final in a whitewash win, composing breaks of 56 and 73 along the way.
“I’m feeling great now. There was quite a bit of pressure in this match for me and this is a very good result. It is great making it to this point, but I’m now competing for the title,” said former World Under-21 Champion Wu.
“My opponent probably felt a lot of pressure today and couldn’t perform to his usual level. It definitely took up a lot of his energy winning last night. I regularly practise with him and I think he’s a very good player.
“It would be a new beginning to win the title. This is my fourth year as a professional, I won’t put too much pressure on myself. I’m eager to win, but I’ll maintain a calm mindset. Winning a title would bring a new sense of responsibility.”
Singh Chadha said: “I’m a little bit sad that I couldn’t play up to the standards. I’m disappointed for the crowd and feel bad for that as everyone bought their tickets. I was probably overwhelmed by yesterday. I tried to relax my mind but I had too many thoughts.
“I am so happy with myself, even though I lost 6-0 today. I don’t even care about that as I know I am going to be stronger next time I get to the business end of a tournament.”