Wu Yize continued his strong run of form by emerging from Group 6 of Championship League Snooker on Thursday in Leicester.
It has been a great couple of months for the 22 year-old, who burst into the top 16 of the world rankings for the first time with his maiden ranking success at the International Championship in November.
That provided him with a debut appearance at the prestigious Masters, where he came within one frame of reaching the final at the Alexandra Palace.
On Wednesday, Wu compiled his maiden 147 break on the main tour and he has now booked his place in next month’s Championship League Snooker Winners’ Group.
The young Chinese potter topped the round-robin phase of Group 6 with an almost perfect record of five victories and just a single defeat.
In the last four, Wu then compiled breaks of 91 and 98 to safely see off the challenge of countryman Zhang Anda.
Zhao Xintong was awaiting in the group final, the world champion having tallied his first-ever professional 147 in competitive snooker during his semi-final triumph over Jak Jones.
It’s a record-extending 21st maximum break of the season, the fifth of the calendar year already, and the 238th officially made 147 on the World Snooker Tour.
Zhao lost the opening frame of the final on the black before responding with a break of 60 to restore parity.
But Wu dominated the concluding couple of frames, contributing runs of 127 and 80 – where he was on course to make another maximum before breaking down – to seal a 3-1 win.
He becomes the sixth player through to the Winners’ Group, joining Tom Ford, Elliot Slessor, Si Jiahui, Matthew Selt, and reigning champion Mark Selby.
Wu is now the 10/3 second favourite in the outright betting market behind Mark Selby with ميلبيت (MelBet) offering more odds on all the latest snooker events.
There is one spot in the Winners’ Group left, meanwhile, from Group 7 which is scheduled to take place on Friday and Saturday at the Mattioli Arena.
Zhao, who also lost in the final of Group 5, has opted not to continue in the event, but Zhang, Jones, and Jack Lisowski (fifth in Group 6) do receive a final chance to advance in the invitational competition.
They’ll be joined by late newcomers Ryan Day, Lei Peifan, Jimmy Robertson, and Xu Si, while Xiao Guodong and Oliver Lines have been eliminated after finishing at the bottom of Group 6.
There are various prize bonuses on offer in Championship League Snooker, including money for frames won, reaching the group play offs, and recording the highest break in each group.
Championship League Snooker Group 6
Round Robin
1. Wu Yize – 5 points
2. Jak Jones – 4 points
3. Zhao Xintong – 4 points
4. Zhang Anda – 3 points
5. Jack Lisowski – 2 points
6. Xiao Guodong – 2 points
7. Oliver Lines – 1 point
Semi-Finals
Wu Yize 3-0 Zhang Anda
Zhao Xintong 3-0 Jak Jones
Final
Wu Yize 3-1 Zhao Xintong
Featured photo credit: WST
Oliver Lines responded to Xiao going 2-0 up, including his maximum, by winning the next three frames to nil, compiling two centuries and an eighty break.