LONDON, May 3 — China could have its second successive snooker world champion after Wu Yize came back from the brink of defeat against Mark Allen to win 17-16 in a thrilling semi-final decider yesterday.

The 22-year-old Wu will now look to follow in the footsteps of compatriot Zhao Xintong, the 2025 champion, when he faces Shaun Murphy in the final at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre after the Englishman defeated his compatriot in the last eight.

Northern Ireland’s Allen was on the verge of victory at 16-15 up when, in ideal position, he missed the final black of the 32nd frame off its spot.

Wu, by far the youngest of the four semi-finalists, then knocked the black in to level at 16-16.

In the decider, he missed a difficult long red and let Allen in for a break before the 40-year-old ran out of position after splitting the pack.

And when Allen left a tricky red on, Wu cut the ball into the bottom corner and cleaned up in a superb display of nerve and skill to reach his first world final.

Northern Ireland’s Allen had one foot in the showpiece match at 16-14 up and on a break of 45.

‘Not recovering from the nerves’ 

But he missed a red into the middle and Wu then responded with a back-to-the-wall contribution of 67 that cut the deficit to one frame at 15-16.

Allen was first in during the next frame with a break of 47 but Wu fought back to send the match into a decider.

“I feel I am still not recovering from the nerves,” Wu, speaking through a translator, told the BBC. “I feel sorry for Mark. I felt like I was losing the match.”

He added: “Would I like to follow in Zhao Xintong’s footsteps? Most definitely... Shaun Murphy has been playing well throughout the tournament, he beat Xintong, and he has been playing well in terms of scoring, so it’s going to be a very tough match, but I believe both players are going to give their best.”

Defeat left Allen, yet to reach a world final, still one tournament shy of completing snooker’s Triple Crown after winning both the UK Championship and the Masters, ruing that missed black.

“You don’t deserve to be in a world final if you’re missing balls like that—that was just pure pressure to be honest,” he said, adding: “I had two or three good chances to close out the match but I didn’t do it, so credit to Wu Yize.”

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen looks on during his semi final match against China's Wu Yize. — Action Images via Reuters

‘Hits it like God’ 

Earlier, Murphy defeated four-time world champion John Higgins 17-15 in another tense semi-final to leave the Englishman just one match away from adding a second global snooker title to the one he won 21 years ago.

“I came out today knowing if I got my chances I could score,” Murphy said after reaching his fifth world final.

“But John Higgins... What a player and what a man. The harder it gets on the table the tougher he gets. He’s such a competitor.”

Higgins, 51 later this month, hailed Murphy by saying: “The way Shaun hit the ball in that last session... He just hits it like God.”

Murphy, 43, has been the runner-up in three previous appearances in the world final since lifting snooker’s most prestigious trophy back in 2005.

One of those defeats was by Higgins, a comfortable 18-9 winner in the 2009 showpiece.

But Murphy, who started Saturday’s play 13-11 behind, compiled three centuries and then held his nerve in the 32nd frame after Higgins broke down on a break of 50.

The best of 35-frame final starts at 1200 GMT on Sunday. — AFP