Sheffield, 05 May (H.S.): Wu Yize has become the second youngest winner of the Snooker World Championship, when the 22-year-old player defeated Britain's Shaun Murphy 18-17 in the decisive frame on Monday.

The Chinese player took the lead in the tough match against former champion Murphy, who made a comeback after trailing overnight and dragged the match until Monday evening.

Wu, after Stephen Hendry, is the second youngest player to win this title, who had won his first world title at the age of 21 in 1990. He also became China's second world champion, before his compatriot Zhao Xintong had achieved victory at the Crucible last year.

Zhao had been defeated by Magician Murphy in the quarter-finals, who won his first world title in 2005, when Wu was not even two years old .

However, Wu showed excellent composure amid the Crucible audience's Wuuuu chants. This final match was filled with ups and downs, in which in the evening session both players remained tied at 14-14, 15-15, and 16-16. Wu achieved victory in the same city where he had come at the age of 16 to advance his snooker career.

The match went to the decisive frame, where Wu maintained control after a cautious start and secured victory by making a deciding break of 85 .

Murphy said in an interview with BBC Two, I am very proud. This has been a wonderful few weeks for me and my team. I spent excellent time in Sheffield. We were very close, extremely close.

He said, I want to congratulate Wu Yize and his family for this achievement. I had already said that he will become world champion one day. It's just a shame that day was today.

Apart from lifting the trophy, which was started in 1926, Wu will also receive a prize money of 500,000 pounds (£676,400) and he will reach the top 10 in world rankings .

Murphy was also 22, three months older than his opponent, when he claimed his solitary world snooker crown 21 years ago. With this victory, Wu follows in Zhao Xintong's footsteps to become the second successive winner from China.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar