Kyren Wilson believes snooker could take inspiration from darts by embracing more entertainment, including walk-on songs and greater interaction with the crowd.
The reigning Masters champion, fresh from a dramatic comeback victory in the first round of the 2026 World Snooker Championship, suggested that players themselves may need to do more to help generate atmosphere.
“I think the players maybe need to give a little bit more,” world number two Wilson told Midnite.
“Walk-on songs, interaction with the crowd – you look at the likes of the darts before the lads go on and the ladies go on.”
“You know, they’re ramping up the crowd with great walk-on songs.
“I’ve tried to do it with mine. There’s only so much you can do, but maybe just a little bit more interaction [is needed].”
The one tournament when snooker does seem to take inspiration from darts is at the Shoot Out, where noisy fans are generally welcomed.
It’s a much different scenario this week for the World Championship, where the drama and tension more familiarly hail from within the quiet intimacy of the iconic Crucible Theatre.
In a gripping opening-round contest a couple of days ago, Wilson battled back from 7-3 down to beat Stan Moody 10-7.
Moody had looked set to produce a famous upset on his Crucible debut, compiling a string of heavy breaks to seize control of the contest early on.
But the momentum shifted dramatically when the 19 year-old missed a red that would have seen him take an 8-3 lead.
Wilson punished the error with a clearance to force a respotted black, which he coolly converted, before later producing a stunning turnaround from needing three snookers to level at 7-7.
From there, his experience told with the Warrior reeling off the last seven frames to avoid a second successive first-round exit at the Crucible.
“It was very difficult. Every credit to Stan,” said Wilson, who was criticised by some fans for his exuberant celebrations before shaking his young opponent’s hand.
“The way he started was very, very impressive. At the tender age of 19, I think he is going to have a lot to say going forward.”
Wilson arrived in Sheffield following a mixed run of form this season – generally struggling at the ranking events on the calendar but triumphing at both the Shanghai Masters and the Masters invitationals.
“I think, you know, the Worlds is obviously number one. I think personally the Masters is number two,” Wilson said.
“So I won the second biggest tournament this year. Hopefully I can go on to win the biggest now.”
“My prep has been quite similar to 2024. In terms of ranking events, maybe not as good as I would have liked, but it’s given me a chance to just go away, spend a bit of quality family time and come into this World Championship very fresh.
“You want to keep the serotonin flowing, feel that sort of feel-good factor going into your game, but don’t overdo it. You don’t want to be tired.”
Next up for Wilson is a blockbuster last-16 clash with Mark Allen, a repeat of their memorable 2018 Masters final which the Pistol won to secure his maiden Triple Crown title.
The pair also clashed twice before in Sheffield, with Wilson winning on both of those occasions in 2016 and 2018.
Featured photo credit: WST
Okay, Kyren – calm down! More like the darts? Beer bellies, chanting crowds (full of beer)… hmm. When we played in the 70s, crowds were, drinking, smoking, talking, moving about, all quite close to the table… and it was fine. You might be on to something… ‘walk on songs for snooker?’ – now, that’s a novel idea!
Both Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson have woken up to the fact that darts is leaving snooker in their dust. Mark Allen told the Sun that “the 2025 Northern Ireland Open final at the Waterfront attracted 1,435 spectators, the largest attendance at a UK snooker event outside the Masters.”
The Premier League darts at Belfast’s SSE Arena drew more than 11,000 fans!
As a novice fan of snooker, it is incredible that snooker players get away with harassing and committing verbal abuse towards paying customers. The WST is complicit and I do not why the fans tolerate it.
There are many former fans that completely dislike the players not because of their skill, but because of their behavior. Luckily for the verbal abusing players, the fans cannot seem to look like they are Chinese fans so the players are free to get away with it.
I laughed when Kyren Wilson thought it was the entrance music that needed to change.
I don’t understand this sentiment.
I know nothing about its history, but when I first started watching snooker on TV about two decades ago, it was my impression that it was a gentleman’s sport, e.g. the way the players (and referee) dressed, the general decorum, i.e. a definite standard of behavior was expected, and this was monitored by the referee — it also looked like snooker was marketed that way.
Darts is something that does not interest me — I might throw a dart or two if I had the chance, but I don’t and won’t watch — is it a sport? — sort of — seems more like pub entertainment.
I do like the Shootout — I think it’s great entertainment, and a fun *change* from a normal snooker event — its uniqueness is part of its attractiveness, so I’m not sure how more shootout-like events would work — is the atmosphere there what Wilson is talking about?
In my view, darts is lowbrow, snooker is highbrow — I would like it to stay that way.