For the second time in the 2026 NAGF ProQual, Michael Xu 5d survived by the slimmest margin possible.
Needing a win after dropping Sunday's opening championship game to the undefeated Qiyou Wu 7d, the 13-year-old Canadian edged Wu by just a half point after a grueling 352-move battle that lasted nearly four hours. In the end, everything hinged on the handling of a ko fight and the final dame.
When the count was confirmed, Xu literally leaped for joy, throwing his arms around his proud father as a smiling Wu looked on.
Xu's remarkable run has now been decided by a combined margin of just three points: a half-point victory in his first semifinal, a 1½-point win in the second, and Sunday's half-point triumph to force a winner-take-all third game.
The deciding game of the best-of-three 2026 NAGF ProQual championship begins Monday at 10:00 a.m. PDT (1:00 p.m. EDT) on the AGA's YouTube and Twitch channels. Telegraph Go returns to provide live commentary (watch his commentary on the first two final rounds here), with the American Go E-Journal's Chris Garlock hosting.
Click here for complete results and game records.
report/photo by Chris Garlock