Wu Yize the new ‘David Beckham of snooker’ as Crucible duo amazed | Other | Sport

Wu Yize faces the match of his life at the World Championship, taking on Mark Allen in a marathon semi-final over the next three days. The brilliant 22-year-old has been talked about in snooker circles for some years now. For the wider British public however, they’ll be watching a great amount this weekend of a player they probably know little about.

Both Ronnie O’Sullivan and Shaun Murphy have said in recent months that they believe Wu will one day become world champion. And for many in the game, he has become a very vivid reminder of one of snooker’s most flamboyant ever stars, who tragically died 20 years ago. Paul Hunter was aged just 27 when he died from cancer in 2006, with the 20th anniversary of his passing coming in October.

Hunter was nicknamed the “Beckham of the Baize” because of his stylish play and dashing good looks. The Leeds man famously won the Masters three times. And he memorably put his Masters final victory over Fergal O’Brien in 2001 down to “Plan B” involving his then fiance Lindsey between the two sessions of the match.

Two decades on, Wu is bringing memories of Hunter flooding back. When the Chinese youngster beat John Higgins to win the International Championship title in November, the legendary Scot likened him to a past rival. “Wu reminds me so much of the late, great Paul Hunter, the way he plays the game. He’s a new superstar,” Higgins said.

I spoke to Murphy about those Higgins comments in January, and the Englishman was in total agreement. “Wu is like Paul in so many ways,” Murphy said. “The way he holds the cue, his grip and hinge position, his bridge position. He’s very much like Paul.

“He moves like Paul did, he plays like Paul did. They used to say about Paul, you never knew if he was winning or losing, and I think that Wu is very similar.”

Wu is having a dream run at the Crucible – where he had never won a match before this year – with his latest victory coming against Hossein Vafaei in the quarter-finals.

Wu spends much of his spare time playing video games and when he’s not playing, loves watching snooker on television. When he plays in China, some viewers could be mistaken for thinking fans are booing him. Instead, they’re shouting “Wuuuuu” in support for him.

Huge television audiences in China are sure to watch in the coming days as Wu goes for World Championship glory. And the chances are he’ll win plenty more new fans in the UK too.