Yuan Sijun has reached his first ranking event final, a milestone that arrives later than many predicted after he earned glowing praise as a teenager. The 26-year-old will face Wu Yize in the Shenzhen Open final on Sunday after an edgy 6-5 win over Jimmy Robertson in Saturday's first semi-final.
Yuan's path to the final has been favourable, with victories over Fan Zhengyi, Zak Surety, Michael Holt and world number 45 Robertson. Ranked 33 in the world, he has only faced players ranked below him en route to the showpiece.
A Promise Made in 2019
Yuan will be second favourite against world champion Wu, but there were those tipping him for glory before the Crucible king even turned professional. In the 2018/19 season, Yuan reached a semi-final and two major quarter-finals, beating the likes of John Higgins, Mark Williams, Ding Junhui, Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson.
Just before his 19th birthday in 2019, Yuan drew serious praise from Stephen Hendry, who told Metro: 'Yuan Sijun, he's one of the best youngsters I've seen since the likes of Ding, Ronnie [O'Sullivan], Mark Williams or John Higgins turned pro, he's the best I've seen. But it's not an automatic, it's how he's looked after, does he do the right things with his career? But he has the best potential I've seen so far.'
O'Sullivan, who beat Yuan at the 2019 Welsh Open, was also impressed, telling Eurosport: 'I think he's a very, very good player. For snooker, it's great that we've got someone so young who has got potential to be world champion. It's great for the game and he's going to be a huge star in China. It's going to be interesting to see how he handles it and deals with it, and if he wants it, he can have it.'
Struggles and a Late Breakthrough
Yuan has failed to live up to that billing over the last seven years, reaching just one more ranking semi-final before this week in Shenzhen, at the 2025 German Masters. He still hasn't made his Crucible debut, losing in the final round of qualifying three times. The pandemic hindered his progress, and he dropped off the professional tour in 2021 after a spell of inactivity, although he immediately returned.
Why he has not managed to deliver on his promise since then is unclear, and he admits he has found recent years very difficult. After beating Robertson, he told World Snooker Tour: 'The pressure was huge throughout the whole match, right from the moment I came out to play. I could feel that I was playing completely differently compared with the previous few matches. Although I kept telling myself not to think about it, sometimes your brain just instinctively and subconsciously goes back to those thoughts.'
'There were so many different feelings mixed together. There is happiness, but also the sense of how difficult it has been and all the struggles over the years. I suppose, in a way, this is a little bit of an answer to myself after all these years. So many emotions came together, and in the end, I probably just couldn't quite control them.'
'I feel that my first ranking final has come a little bit late. Since the pandemic in 2020, the years in between have been quite difficult, and I feel it hasn't been easy. So after all these years, I just hope I can give myself something to show for it.'
A Tough Task Against the World Champion
It will be a huge task for Yuan in a best-of-19 frame final against Wu, who edged Shaun Murphy 5-4 in the quarters and then hammered Judd Trump 6-1 in the semis. Wu's safety play has been a key factor, as he said after dismantling Trump: 'My safety play has improved a lot. This was the best safety performance of my professional career, and it would have been nice if I could have been a little more fluent in scoring.'
'This match was also very important for my career, to be able to perform at this level in an area of the game that isn't my strength, safeties, I'm very satisfied.'
Wu is into his fifth ranking final and looking for his third title at just 22 years old, giving him much more experience on the big stage than his older opponent. On facing his compatriot for the title and £177,000 top prize, he said: 'I'm happy, of course. When I was preparing for the evening match, I saw that he had shed some tears. I believe it was his first ranking final, and it's also my first final of the season. Hopefully we can put on a great match for everyone. Of course, I hope I can take the trophy home, but we will both give it everything we have.'
A first title as world champion, just five months after conquering the Crucible, would take a monkey off Wu's back and set him on course for a strong season as he challenges Zhao Xintong for the world number one spot. Yuan would have joyfully taken a first ranking final and guaranteed career-high prize money of at least £76,000 if he had been offered it at the start of the week. With years of struggling behind him, this is his chance to fulfil the potential that two seven-time world champions saw in him back in 2019.
