Kyren Wilson admits that his World Championship celebrations affected his early-season performances but is back on track after landing the Xi’an Grand Prix title on Sunday.
The Kettering cueist beat Judd Trump 10-8 to lift the trophy aloft at the Qujiang E-Sports Centre while pocketing £177,000 in prize money.
It marked a dramatic turnaround from his form at the start of the campaign, when he exited Championship League Snooker at the first hurdle before being hammered 6-0 by Zhou Yuelong in the opening round of the Shanghai Masters.
Wilson understandably took some time to enjoy himself after capturing the Crucible crown for the first time in May.
But it hasn’t taken the 32 year-old too long to get back on the straight and narrow as he targets more silverware on the professional circuit.
Now ranked number three in the world, the Xi’an Grand Prix victory has taken him to within striking distance of Trump at the top of the rankings list.
“I’m absolutely chuffed,” Kyren Wilson told the World Snooker Tour after securing a seventh career ranking title.
“I just tried to stay as resilient as possible. I don’t think either of us played our best snooker.”
“But I thought it was a really entertaining final actually, especially to be a part of a packed house – it made it a great atmosphere.
“It went tits-up in Shanghai, losing 6-0. I’m so glad I’ve managed to come out here and prove exactly why I’m world champion this year.
“I’m working really hard with Chris O’Connor. We’re doing solution hypnotherapy and obviously having my brother with me has been brilliant.
“My family are out in Dubai, so I’m really looking forward to stopping over and spending some time with them.
“In a weird way, it made it a win-win situation. If I got beat, I was going on holiday.”
Wilson had lost six out of his previous seven meetings with Trump, so it was an impressive feat to come from 8-7 down and win the last three frames against his fellow Englishman.
Both still in their 30s and with seemingly many years at the top ahead of them, it could develop into a more frequent rivalry at the business end of tournaments.
“I hope so,” Wilson said on the possibility of competing with Trump for titles on a more regular basis.
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Rankings news after Xi’an
“You can’t rely on the greats that have been around our game for so many years to be here for many more years to come.”
“As much as they want that to be the case, that’s not what we want. I’ve got to start challenging and lifting more of these.
“Judd is far, far ahead of me in terms of ranking titles, so when I get an opportunity to play him in a final I have to make it count.
“After the World Championships, I’ve been constantly trying to search for that high.
“To be honest, I’ve gone a little bit off the rails which is not like me. You’ve got to sort of rein it in when you can.
“I was searching for the wrong high, if that makes sense. Now I’m turning my attentions to more snooker tournaments.
“There’s so much on offer nowadays. I made sure I worked really hard for this one, and this has certainly given me that high.
“I’ve been dreaming of being a world champion since I was six years old, so I’ve absolutely reached my boyhood dream – the pinnacle of our sport.
“But I’m still so young in terms of the tour, so I’ve got so much more to give and there’s so much more I want to give.”
Kyren Wilson will next be in action at the upcoming Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, which takes place from August 30th to September 7th in Riyadh.
2024 Xi’an Grand Prix draw
Round of 128
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-2 Haris Tahir
He Guoqiang 5-4 Ashley Carty
Anthony McGill 5-0 Xing Zihao
Ricky Walden 5-3 Liam Davies
John Higgins 5-2 Alexander Ursenbacher
Sunny Akani 5-2 Fan Zhengyi
Dean Young 5-3 Robert Milkins
Jimmy Robertson 5-1 Huang Jiahao
Elliot Slessor 5-0 Manasawin Phetmalaikul
Chris Wakelin 5-4 Rory Thor
Mark Davis 5-3 Ishpreet Singh Chadha
Mark Williams 5-0 Liam Graham
Jamie Jones 5-2 Mostafa Dorgham
Stuart Bingham 5-1 Zhou Jinhao
Xu Si 5-4 Jiang Jun
Ding Junhui 4-5 Alfie Burden
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Wang Yuchen
Révész Bulcsú 5-0 David Grace
Neil Robertson 5-2 Allan Taylor
Yuan Sijun 5-1 Bai Yulu
Zhang Anda 5-1 Oliver Lines
Graeme Dott 5-2 Ma Shaojun
Hossein Vafaei 5-1 Ahmed Aly Elsayed
Dylan Emery 5-2 Jackson Page
Amir Sarkhosh 5-3 Joshua Thomond
Si Jiahui 5-4 Jimmy White
Gong Chenzhi 5-4 Anthony Hamilton
Tom Ford 5-3 Stan Moody
Matthew Selt 5-2 Ian Burns
Joe O’Connor 5-3 Duane Jones
Zak Surety 5-2 Sanderson Lam
Hammad Miah w/o Luca Brecel
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-2 Antony Kowalski
Ma Hailong 5-3 Martin O’Donnell
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Baipat Siripaporn
Artemijs Zizins 5-3 Robbie Williams
Jak Jones 5-4 Robbie McGuigan
Tian Pengfei 5-0 Farakh Ajaib
Jack Lisowski 5-1 Ross Muir
Joe Perry 5-0 Mink Nutcharut
Jordan Brown 5-2 Liam Pullen
David Gilbert 5-1 Reanne Evans
Ben Mertens 5-4 Simon Blackwell
Gary Wilson 5-4 Long Zehuang
Paul Deaville 5-3 Wu Yize
Pang Junxu 5-2 Michael Holt
Aaron Hill 5-2 Chris Totten
Mark Selby 5-3 Wang Xinbo
Shaun Murphy 5-1 Mitchell Mann
Jamie Clarke 5-0 Cao Jin
Noppon Saengkham 5-3 Andrew Pagett
Dominic Dale 5-4 Mohammed Shehab
Daniel Wells 5-4 Ali Carter
Julien Leclercq 5-4 Ben Woollaston
Zhou Yuelong 5-1 Haydon Pinhey
Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-3 Lei Peifan
Matthew Stevens 5-0 Andrew Higginson
Ryan Day 5-4 Cheung Ka Wai
Scott Donaldson w/o Lim Kok Leong
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Kreishh Gurbaxani
Xiao Guodong 5-2 Iulian Boiko
Stephen Maguire 5-1 Ken Doherty
David Lilley 5-3 Louis Heathcote
Mark Allen 5-2 Liu Hongyu
Round of 64
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-2 He Guoqiang
Anthony McGill 3-5 Ricky Walden
John Higgins 4-5 Sunny Akani
Dean Young 4-5 Jimmy Robertson
Elliot Slessor 2-5 Chris Wakelin
Mark Davis 2-5 Mark Williams
Jamie Jones 3-5 Stuart Bingham
Xu Si 5-4 Alfie Burden
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-2 Bulcsú Révész
Neil Robertson 2-5 Yuan Sijun
Zhang Anda 2-5 Graeme Dott
Hossein Vafaei 5-3 Dylan Emery
Amir Sarkhosh 3-5 Si Jiahui
Gong Chenzhi 5-1 Tom Ford
Matthew Selt 5-4 Joe O’Connor
Zak Surety 3-5 Hammad Miah
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-0 Ma Hailong
Lyu Haotian 5-2 Artemijs Zizins
Jak Jones 5-3 Tian Pengfei
Jack Lisowski 5-2 Joe Perry
Jordan Brown 2-5 David Gilbert
Ben Mertens 1-5 Gary Wilson
Paul Deaville 0-5 Pang Junxu
Aaron Hill 0-5 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 5-0 Jamie Clarke
Noppon Saengkham 3-5 Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells 5-3 Julien Leclercq
Zhou Yuelong 2-5 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Matthew Stevens 2-5 Ryan Day
Barry Hawkins w/o Scott Donaldson
Xiao Guodong 5-1 Stephen Maguire
David Lilley 1-5 Mark Allen
Round of 32
Top Half
Kyren Wilson 5-3 Ricky Walden
Sunny Akani 3-5 Jimmy Robertson
Chris Wakelin 2-5 Mark Williams
Stuart Bingham 4-5 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-1 Yuan Sijun
Hossein Vafaei w/o Graeme Dott
Si Jiahui 3-5 Gong Chenzhi
Matthew Selt 5-2 Hammad Miah
Bottom Half
Judd Trump 5-1 Lyu Haotian
Jak Jones 5-4 Jack Lisowski
David Gilbert 5-3 Gary Wilson
Pang Junxu 4-5 Mark Selby
Shaun Murphy 2-5 Dominic Dale
Daniel Wells 5-4 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Ryan Day 3-5 Barry Hawkins
Xiao Guodong 2-5 Mark Allen
Round of 16
Kyren Wilson 5-4 Jimmy Robertson
Mark Williams 4-5 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-0 Hossein Vafaei
Gong Chenzhi 4-5 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 5-1 Jak Jones
David Gilbert 5-4 Mark Selby
Dominic Dale 1-5 Daniel Wells
Barry Hawkins 5-3 Mark Allen
Quarter-Finals (bo9)
Kyren Wilson 5-1 Xu Si
Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-4 Matthew Selt
Judd Trump 5-2 David Gilbert
Daniel Wells 5-3 Barry Hawkins
Semi-Finals (bo11)
Kyren Wilson 6-4 Ronnie O’Sullivan
Judd Trump 6-1 Daniel Wells
Final (bo19)
Kyren Wilson 10-8 Judd Trump
Featured photo credit: WST
Kyren Wilson looked to me like he was building up to be a major challenger a few years ago and then he didn’t! His return to top competitiveness is a boost for him and the sport! It’s useful, even in this day and age, that he has won major rankings points in two different seasons now.