Kyren Wilson: ‘Judd played ever so well’

Kyren Wilson bounced back from his one-sided defeat to Judd Trump last week with victory in the first round of the UK Championship on Tuesday in York.

The Kettering cueist was humbled 6-0 in the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions, with Trump marching on to capture the invitational crown in Bolton on Sunday.

Wilson’s first outing since that defeat was against Iranian amateur top-up Soheil Vahedi, who he beat 6-2 with the aid of 110 break in the sixth frame.

“I think that kind of finished it off really,” Wilson said of the ton that saw him pull 4-2 clear at a crucial juncture of the contest at the Barbican Centre.

“I think the century settled me down because it was a one-visit off a tricky red. The frames I had won before that, we both had a couple of chances and made a couple of mistakes, and I kind of fell over the line.”

“The century was of my own doing, and it was nice to finish off with an 80 off Soheil’s mistake in the last.”

Wilson, who will face Welsh player Jak Jones in the last 64, was pleased to make an immediate return to winning ways after what was a disappointing climax to his Champion of Champions aspirations a week ago.

“It was just one of those games where I couldn’t get anything going – I didn’t have a great run of the ball and Judd played ever so well,” the world number five told the World Snooker Tour.

“It’s just how it goes sometimes, sometimes it happens for you and sometimes it doesn’t. You’ve just got to accept that the better man won on the day.”

“I’ve had no time to think about it really, so it’s nice to be back up in York and be involved in a really good event and have something to put the last tournament behind me.

“It’s great to come to a venue like this – it was great in Bolton and following it up with a great attendance in York, so I’m really looking forward to seeing that.”

Wilson is around 16/1 in the betting markets to capture a maiden UK crown next week, and with it a potential windfall of a whopping £200,000.

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Elsewhere on day one of the UK Championship, John Higgins and Stephen Maguire were among the other top seeds to progress, but Shaun Murphy crashed out following a 6-5 reverse against Si Jiahui.

Live coverage of the first round is available on Eurosport. Other options are available around the world with more details on the World Snooker Tour website.

Featured photo credit: WST