[Reached the main draw of the World Championship in the second season of his career]
On the evening of April 4, Beijing time, Chinese player Wu Yize, who played in the World Snooker Championship for the first time, was out in the first round, ending his journey in Cruzburg. However, he faced the opponent of Neil Robertson, the world champion and the very loud "Melbourne Machine" who won this tournament. He shot a single 16 twice in the game, and the final score of 3-10 was not ugly. Moreover, this young man from Gansu Province, born only in 2003, entered the main competition of the World Championships after only two years of professional resume, which can be said to be the first Chinese snooker, and this "national record" is difficult to break.
Since he was a player from the qualifying round, Wu Yize could only face the high-ranking seeds in the first round. He was drawn by Robertson as an opponent. In the first stage of the match, Wu Yize shot two consecutive one-shot 107s after three sets behind, winning the applause of the audience with gorgeous strokes and accurate positioning, and Wu Yize also made the score 3-4. At the end of the first stage, Wu Yize trailed 3-6.
However, in the second stage of the game on the evening of the 16th, Robertson, who found the feeling, showed the style of a world-class player, played at a high level, and hit a single shot or a single 50+ in succession, and his condition improved significantly, making it difficult for Wu Yize to find loopholes and counterattack opportunities. At this stage, Robertson won four consecutive games, including in the overall 4th game, Robertson also tried to challenge the perfect score, but unfortunately fell short, hitting a single shot since the start of the game to score 11. 146-10, Robertson passed the first round, and Wu Yize ended his first World Championship trip.
However, Wu Yize also left a record that is difficult to achieve, at least no domestic player has yet reached. In the history of the World Championships, only three people have reached the main stage of the World Championships within two seasons of their careers. In their first professional season, they qualified for the Crucible Theatre were the "Billiards Emperor" Hendry and the "First Man in Snooker History" O'Sullivan, both of whom won seven World Championships in history.
Before reaching the World Championship in the second season of his career, there was Judd Trump, who was regarded as O'Sullivan's successor, who was also a world champion, and now Wu Yize equaled Xiao Te, depending on whether he can win the World Championship in the future. The Chinese player who reached the main stage of the World Championship in three seasons is Pang Junxu, while Chinese snooker brother Ding Junhui only reached the round of 32 in his fourth professional season. From this point of view, Wu Yize created history and is the first person in the domestic Taiwan arena.
The 20-year-old Wu Yize is also the youngest of the 32-man roster for the World Championships, and he still has time to leave his name and mark on Cruzburg this year, and start all over again next year to strive for a breakthrough step by step.
Text/Reporter Liu Ailin