Kyren Wilson overcame many obstacles on the way to the world title

For the winning photo, the new snooker world champion Kyren Wilson arranged his family members in the same way he had previously placed the white cue ball on the snooker table in order to sink the colored object balls one after the other. His two sons sat next to the winner’s trophy on the green playing surface strewn with confetti, behind him and his wife stood. Wilson then had his photo taken with his brother and then with his parents.

It was very important to the Englishman that his first world championship title was seen as a family success – because they had supported him significantly since childhood and helped him to reach his career highlight so far on Monday evening.

With 18:14 frames, Wilson prevailed in the two-day World Cup final against Welshman Jak Jones on Monday evening in the Crucible Theater in Sheffield. The most important snooker tournament of the year has been taking place in the venerable venue with almost 1,000 spectators since 1977. Wilson took advantage of the lead he had gained in the first of four game sessions the day before: He won the first seven frames in a row.

The preliminary decision came in the dramatic 28th duel between the two opponents when the score was 16:11, when the black ball had to be replayed at the end because the points were tied – Wilson sank it in a way that was worth seeing and somewhat happily over three boards. Despite Jones’ unlikely comeback, Wilson held his nerve.

The 32-year-old only lost his composure when the victory could no longer be taken away from him after successfully hitting a red object ball. At this point he was 54 points ahead with 51 points remaining. He let out a loud “Come on” twice in a row, clenched his fist and stuck out his tongue in relief. At the award ceremony, he apologized to Jones for his emotional outburst – the success meant so much to him.

As an encore, Wilson easily pocketed the blue ball, another red ball and the black ball to the applause of the audience. But Wilson couldn’t get any further when he cleared the table; he had tears in his eyes. “I can’t see anything anymore,” he stammered. He later said he would never forget that moment.

In 2020 he lost out to Ronnie O’Sullivan

At his first world final in 2020, the number of spectators was severely limited due to the corona pandemic. At that time, the now seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan outclassed him. Wilson benefited from this experience on his second attempt. Before the start of the final, he saw that his opponent looked exhausted – just like he did before the match against O’Sullivan. That’s why he said to himself that he had to “bring the game home immediately.”

Wilson receives half a million pounds for the world title and moves up to third place in the world rankings. At this tournament he was seeded twelfth – it turned out to be a lucky number. On the way to winning the tournament, Wilson did not have to defeat a better ranked opponent.

The highly rated O’Sullivan and Judd Trump both surprisingly failed in the quarter-finals, and Luca Brecel, who entered the tournament as world number one, even failed in the first round. For the first time since 1977, three qualifiers made it to the semi-finals – including Trump’s defeater Jones, who had barely appeared up to this point. The 30-year-old played his way into the world’s best by reaching the final.

At the age of 19, Wilson was kicked off the professional tour

Former champion Peter Ebdon predicted that Kyren Wilson could one day become world champion. Despite his talent, he had to overcome many obstacles. As a 19-year-old, he dropped out of the professional tour after just one season and failed in two attempts to regain his place. He returned to his hometown of Kettering in central England and worked in a bar while training. It was only after three years that he returned to top-class sport; He won his first Masters tournament in Shanghai in 2015.

Wilson also had to struggle financially and health-wise. His nickname is “The Warrior”. His parents and brother repeatedly supported him; they had sacrificed “their whole lives” for him, he said after the World Cup victory. Among other things, they took out mortgages to support his sporting ambitions. Most recently, his son needed serious medical attention and his wife suffered a stroke – probably because of this. She had to surrender her driver’s license, which had an immediate impact on Wilson’s training program.

The past few years had been “a nightmare,” Wilson admitted. It was difficult to ignore it all and carry on with work, but he just loves this sport. In a sense, he sold his soul to snooker – and that ultimately led him to this success. It’s even nicer now that he can take a little revenge on his family with this triumph. His sons warmly embraced him on stage. One of them shouted to him in amazement: “You are world champion!”