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Wonderful Wu humbles Higgins to win International Championship

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Wu made it third time lucky in a ranking final on Sunday (Credit: Liu Zhenrui/Xinhua/Alamy Live News)

Wu Yize won the first ranking title of his career after defeating John Higgins 10-6 in the International Championship final on Sunday.

The 22-year-old climbed into the world’s top 16 for the first time by landing the top prize of ยฃ175,000 in Nanjing, the biggest pay cheque of his career.

Wu hit four centuries along the way to take his tally for the tournament to 14, matching Mark Allen from the 2018 International Championship for the joint-record in a ranking event outside the UK.

The Chinese, who was runner-up at last season’s English and Scottish Open, made it third time lucky in a ranking final, ensuring he will enter the UK Championship as a seed later this month, and guaranteeing his place in the Players Series.

“Honestly, it feels unbelievable,” he said. “After beating Judd Trump [6-4 from 4-0 down in the last 16], I started thinking about the whole journey, and it was surreal.

“I think one of the good things was that I started both sessions of the final really well. Having a lead helped me to relax. Everything went pretty much the way I wanted.

“It has been a long wait since reaching the final at the Scottish Open and the English Open last year. At times, I honestly felt quite desperate, but deep down, I always believed I had the ability to win a title.

“Every day, I kept thinking about it. I had a strong will to lift a trophy. That belief carried me through this week.”

Wu made a strong start with breaks of 86 and 62, and though Higgins responded with 101, back-to-back centuries of 110 and 113 gave him a commanding 4-1 lead.

A further contribution of 137 guaranteed the Chinese the lead heading into the evening session at 5-2 up. Yet Higgins, appearing in his 59th ranking final, rallied to take the final two frames of the afternoon and reduce his deficit to 5-4.

Wu opened the second session with 87 before the 11th frame swung the final firmly in his favour.

Higgins had been in first with 54 to establish a 59-10 lead. But after clawing his way back into the frame, Wu doubled the penultimate red and cleared with 43 – potting a superb green along the way – to snatch a 7-4 lead on the black.

Wu embarked on a maximum attempt in the following frame, but broke down on 80 after narrowly missing a double on the 11th red. Nevertheless, it was enough to give him another frame, while he also controlled the 14th to go one away from victory at 9-5 up.

His first match to seal frame and match went begging when he missed a red with the rest in the following frame, allowing Higgins to stay alive with a run of 53.

Yet, the four-time World champion could only watch in awe as his opponent, 28 years his junior, got over the line with a wonderful break of 108.

“I was nowhere near good enough all day,” Higgins added. “He was striking the ball beautifully. He was, by far, the better player. It reminded me so much of playing Paul Hunter; the way he gets through the ball and gets so much action on it. He is a brilliant player.

“It goes to show the good hands snooker is in. I’m glad that I’ll probably be retiring in a couple of years with guys like that potting them off the lampshades. He is a total star.

“There’s no point in getting too down. I’ll get home and have a couple of days off before the Champion of Champions. After that, it is the Riyadh tournament and then building up to the UK Championship. I’m disappointed with how I played today.”