World champion Wu Yize secured his place in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters by beating Shaun Murphy 6-5 in a thrilling match played on July 30, 2026. The Chinese athlete, who had made “a lot of mistakes”, managed to reverse the score to advance in the competition.
This clash marked the first meeting between the two players since Wu won the dramatic World Championship final in May. In the third round, the 22-year-old was down five to four frames after starting out leading 3-1. However, he managed a fifth shot over 50 points in the match to force the deciding frame.
In the final frame, with Murphy leading 62-29, the English player unexpectedly missed a red ball. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Chinese remained calm, potted the black ball and secured another electrifying victory.
Wu Yize is now preparing to face Englishman Judd Trump in the semi-finals. Trump secured his place by defeating Scotland’s John Higgins 6-0, a performance that included three consecutive 100-plus shots in the final three frames.
“Despite the good result and winning the match, I felt like I never had full control of the game. I hope to regain my rhythm and reach my best level in the next game as I prepare for the semi-finals,” said Wu after the victory.
He added: “I made a lot of mistakes that I shouldn’t have made. To be honest, I didn’t expect to get another chance in the decisive play and I was quite surprised when Shaun made a mistake and gave me the opportunity.”
“I don’t think any of us played particularly well today. We didn’t reach the same level as the match we had in the World Championship final”, commented the champion on the quality of the game.
In another close encounter, defending champion Kyren Wilson recovered from a 5-3 deficit to beat three-time world champion Mark Williams in the deciding frame, with shots of 61, 54 and 113 points to complete his comeback.
Wilson will now face 2025 world champion Zhao Xintong in a repeat of the previous year’s semi-final in which Wilson claimed a 10-5 victory.
Zhao Xintong put in a dominant performance, defeating Australian Neil Robertson 6-0 and recording a maximum shot of 117 in the third frame.
