Wu Yize wins Shenzhen Open as China claims top two ranking places

Wu Yize won the Shenzhen Open on Sunday, beating Yuan Sijun 10-5 in an all-Chinese final to claim his first ranking title since becoming world champion. BBC Sport reported that the result lifts the 22-year-old to a career-best second in the world rankings, behind Zhao Xintong, giving China the top two positions for the first time.

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The victory at the Bao'an Sports Centre brought Wu a £177,000 first prize and moved him above Judd Trump and Neil Robertson in the rankings. It follows his breakthrough at the Crucible in May, when he defeated Shaun Murphy to become the second-youngest winner of the World Championship. In Shenzhen, he added another ranking trophy after overcoming a first-session challenge from Yuan.

Wu reached the final with a 6-1 semi-final victory over Trump and carried his scoring into the opening exchanges against Yuan. Breaks of 117 and 80 helped him establish a 3-1 lead in the best-of-19 contest. Yuan, however, was competing in his first ranking final and responded by winning three consecutive frames, turning that early deficit into a 4-3 advantage.

That was not enough to secure Yuan the lead at the interval. Wu produced two further breaks of more than 50 in the closing frames of the opening session, winning both to go into the break 5-4 ahead. The sequence left the match separated by just one frame, despite Wu's strong start and Yuan's three-frame response.

The evening session proved more decisive. BBC Sport reported that Yuan struggled with his safety play as Wu pulled clear, with breaks of 74 and 62 helping the world champion reach an 8-5 lead. Wu then completed the 10-5 victory, preventing the final from returning to the close contest it had been during the afternoon.

For Yuan, 26, the defeat still came with a rise in the world standings. His run to the final earned him £76,000 and took him up seven places to 26th. Wu finished the week with both the trophy and a new personal ranking high, while his move behind Zhao established an unprecedented Chinese one-two at the top of the sport's rankings.