China's dark horse Wu Yize, 22, stunned British veteran John Higgins, 50, in the final to claim the 2025 World Snooker Tour International Championship title on Sunday.

Wu Yize competes during the final match between Wu Yize of China and John Higgins of Scotland at the 2025 World Snooker Tour International Championship in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Nov. 9, 2025. (Photo by Liu Zhenrui/Xinhua)

This is Wu's first career ranking crown, which lifted his world ranking from No. 22 to No. 13, putting him inside the top 16 for the first time. Wu maintained strong form throughout the tournament, defeating four top-16 players in succession -- Zhang Anda, Judd Trump, Barry Hawkins and Zhao Xintong -- before the final.

In the best-of-19-frame final, Wu enjoyed a flying start 4-1 before Higgins pulled one back in the sixth frame. Wu then notched a century break to extend his lead to 5-2, but Higgins capitalized on errors to take two consecutive frames, ending the first session with Wu ahead 5-4.

After the interval, Wu stretched his lead to 8-5. He held his nerve to secure a match point in the 14th frame, but Higgins responded with a break of 53 to narrow the gap. Wu sealed the victory with a 108 century in the 16th frame to win 10-6.

"It's unbelievable, I feel like I'm dreaming," Wu said. "I still remember the last time I played against Higgins. I was only 16 then, playing with a wildcard and losing to him. Never did I think our next meeting would be at the final of this tournament. It feels absolutely amazing."

Higgis said, "I am so proud that I'm still competing," adding that it is much harder for players like him to win now than it used to be, because they come up against such high-quality players these days.