Wu Yijie adjusts to life as a world champion (Photo: Getty Images) Wu Yijie is still struggling as world champion after winning the Crucible in May and Judd Trump isn’t too surprised. The 22-year-old sensationally won the World Championship earlier this year, beating Shaun Murphy 18-17 in a classic final in Sheffield. This wasn’t entirely unexpected as the Chinese star was a top 16 finisher in the tournament having won the International Championship last season, but it was something of a shock as he had beaten the likes of Mark Selby and Mark Allen en route to the final. The dashing young talent now faces the pressure and expectations of becoming a world champion and superstar in his homeland, where snooker is hugely popular. His first competition of the season actually went quite well, reaching the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, but there have been early exits since then. Wu lost in the early stages of the China Open, Wuhan Open and British Open to Dave Gilbert, Artemis Zizins and Kyren Wilson respectively and is hoping to improve on his results at the English Open in Brentwood this week. Are you crazy about snooker? You are in the right place. I’m Phil Hay and I cover the game we all love. Metro. In my newsletter The Table, I analyze the biggest talking points, lift the lid on sports, and reveal the biggest winners and losers each week. Register here. Phil has been writing about snooker for over ten years. Trump had no such problems when he won the world championship in 2019, winning six world ranking titles and his first in August that year, but admits it is a completely different challenge for Wu. Ize beat Shaun Murphy to win one of the great Crucible finals (Photo: Getty Images) The Englishman was 29 years old when he beat John Higgins in the final in Sheffield and did not have the weight of a country like China on his shoulders back then. Recalling his time as world champion, Trump said: Metro: “Yes, I think I got off to an incredible start and got him into bed straight away. Ask Metro Use AI to dig deeper into the stories you care about, powered by Metro and trusted publications. “When I won the World Championship, I felt very confident. I felt like I would never miss again and that showed in the next season. “But I feel like it could go differently because after the World Cup you’re at such a high level and you’re probably not going to put in as much effort as you need to. I felt like a month before the first tournament I really gave up because I felt like I had something to prove. Judd Trump delivered perhaps his greatest performance in a Crucible final (Photo: Getty Images) “I think maybe it’s a big deal in China. I think maybe they [Wu and 2025 world champion Zhao Xintong] I got a little more distracted than I did and probably did a lot more work with sponsors and things like that. Although I didn’t actually do it. “I just wanted to win at 29 years old, it helped me because I knew what I needed to do in this position. “I think when you’re young, when you’re 22 or so, it’s completely different. You might get even more carried away and believe all the hype. – But he will return. He’s too good a player. I’m sure he will do what Xintong did. When he comes back, he’ll win a couple of games in a row.” Zhao had a really slow start to his season as World Champion in 2025/26, but once he settled down, he really settled down, winning the World Grand Prix, Players Championship and Tour Championship. Zhao Xintong has had a great season as world champion after a slow start (Photo: Getty Images) Trump came close to winning the world title at an even younger age than Wu when he lost 18–15 to Higgins in the 2011 Crucible final when he was just 21 years old. He has no regrets about the ending, saying: “When I look back, it feels like everything happens for a reason. I feel like it was probably the best I didn’t win. “I think I would have been in a position where I would have gotten a little carried away and felt too early that I was the best player in the world. I shouldn’t have thought about it at the time because it was just one event. “I would love to win the tournament and be there with one of the youngest players in history, but I feel that this is not my path in snooker.” Arrow MORE: Ronnie O’Sullivan pulls out of major tournament after being sent to qualifiers Arrow MORE: Jack Jones wins shock British Open title with more big news to come Arrow MORE: Liam Highfield lifts the curtain on comeback after first semi-final loss Comment now Comments Add Metro as your preferred source on Google Add as preferred source Table Keep up to date with snooker’s next big thing with resident Metro expert Phil Hay in his new weekly newsletter. Post navigation Google is finally reversing that annoying “Now Playing” downgrade on Pixels Apple says, “Fold,” and competitors ask, “How wide?”