Kyren Wilson produced a scintillating display of scoring to hammer Judd Trump and become the third player to reach the Champion of Champions Coventry semi-finals at the Ricoh Arena.
Earlier in the day, Wilson knocked out world champion Mark Williams with a controlled first round performance proving enough to get passed the Welshman with a 4-1 scoreline.
Yet, it was the 26 year-old’s showing versus Trump in the quarter-finals that stood out as he compiled a brace of centuries and four additional breaks above 50 to inflict a heavy 6-1 defeat on the former world number one.
Wilson was invited into this year’s Champion of Champions on the back of triumphs this season in the Paul Hunter Classic in Germany and the Six Red World Championship in Thailand.
The Kettering cueist has never won a professional event on home soil but he stands in line to change that statistic this weekend if he can reproduce the same kind of stellar form.
This calendar year on the circuit has been one in which Wilson has truly announced himself as an elite player and possibly one who can join the highest echelons of the sport in the near future.
He reached the final of the Masters in January, where he narrowly missed out on a maiden Triple Crown title to Mark Allen, while he also made a debut appearance in the semi-finals of a World Championship in early May.
Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry suggested on ITV4 before the contest with Trump that Wilson wasn’t yet up his countryman’s level but, if anything, it’s the former who is having to play catch up these days.
It’s another disappointing result in a year full of them for Trump, who beat Luca Brecel in the afternoon session but only qualified for the Champion of Champions on the back of his world ranking position as one of the four top-ups.
The 29 year-old has hit a rut in his career where he still manages to produce on occasion, but is ultimately unable to string a succession of games together that will merit him challenging for more silverware – albeit there wasn’t too much he could have done about Wilson on this particular day.
On Thursday, the last four competitors enter the fray in the hopes of gaining the last spot left available for the Coventry semi-finals.
Mark Allen and Neil Robertson could set up a repeat of their recent International Championship showdown for glory from a few days ago – if they can first overcome their initial opponents in the last 16.
That won’t necessarily be too easy, though, with Robertson up against Mark Selby and Allen tasked with the ever-consistent Barry Hawkins, who tends to fly in under the radar in these big events that contain so many other marquee names.
Live coverage continues on ITV4 and Facebook (selected territories)
Click here to view the draw (times: CET)
🗣️ @KyrenWilson reflects on a superb day of snooker which saw him dispatch both Mark Williams and Judd Trump from the ManBetX @ChampOfChamps, how far can the Warrior go this week? #ChampOfChamps pic.twitter.com/e8AUwI5DpG
— ChampionofChampions (@ChampOfChamps) November 7, 2018
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