Ahead of the upcoming World Championship, let’s have a look at how the top 16 seeds have been getting on during the interrupted 2019/20 campaign.
Kyren Wilson’s season has been steady if unspectacular, but he has done enough to maintain his position within the world’s top eight.
The Kettering cueist began this term slowly and was one of the many players who were forced to withdraw from the season-opening Riga Masters in Latvia following travelling woes.
Things didn’t initially improve greatly, with early exits in the International and China Championships, as well as the English Open.
As the defending champion, Wilson did manage to reach the final of the Paul Hunter Classic, but the tournament was a shadow of its former guise after it was stripped of its ranking status.
Wilson’s semi-final run in the World Open in November was the only standout display of an otherwise forgettable first half of the campaign.
Indeed, it wasn’t until the World Grand Prix in February when Kyren Wilson’s season began to dramatically improve.
The 28 year-old again reached the last four, losing out to eventual champion Neil Robertson in Cheltenham.
Wilson then featured in a couple of ranking event finals in quick succession, suffering a humiliating 9-1 reverse against Shaun Murphy in the Welsh Open before a closer 4-3 defeat to Judd Trump in Gibraltar.
The latter event, completed behind closed doors, signalled the end of snooker activity pre-lockdown, so its hard to say whether that rally of form will continue or not in Sheffield.
Wilson, though, does boast a pretty enviable recent record at the Crucible Theatre.
At around 20/1, Wilson is a good outside bet for World Championship glory this year, and for more betting opportunities check out these Virgin games codes.
The Englishman has reached the quarter-finals in each of the last four editions of the sport’s blue-riband competition, and he experienced the single table set-up by embarking on a run to the semi-finals in 2018.
This year, Wilson is in the top quarter of the draw alongside reigning world champion Judd Trump, as well as fellow seeds Yan Bingtao and Stephen Maguire.
If qualifiers are safely negotiated in the first round, Tour Championship winner Maguire would be Wilson’s opponent in the last 16, so a quarter-final repeat will be tricky.
One thing is certain, Wilson has the game and the temperament to do well over the longer distance in Sheffield.