Kyren Wilson in powerful form but frustrated by how people judge him

02/05/2024 08:00

Kyren Wilson is into the World Snooker Championship semi-finals and in superb form, but still feels his talent goes underrated in some circles.

The Warrior has not had a great season but has looked fantastic in Sheffield so far, with impressive wins over Dominic Dale, Joe O’Connor and John Higgins.

A 13-8 victory over the Wizard of Wishaw really proved how well he is playing, with the four-time world champion thoroughly impressed by his performance.

‘He just overpowered me,’ said Higgins. ‘He was very powerful, I thought he hit the ball fantastic. The conditions weren’t great but he was just over-riding that because he was getting through the ball so well. The best man won. He was by far the better player.’

Ronnie O’Sullivan was beaten by Stuart Bingham on the same night, but Higgins added: ‘On present play right now and watching him, even with Ronnie in, I’d say Kyren would be tough to stop.’

Wilson will meet Dave Gilbert as part of a highly unlikely semi-final line-up, with Jak Jones vs Stuart Bingham in the other side of the draw.

On the prospect of taking on Wilson, Gilbert said he is full of respect for the former finalist, hailing his immense self-belief.

‘If I had Kyren’s belief I’d probably have 10 tournaments to my name,’ said the Angry Farmer. ‘I can’t fault the kid, he’s done great things, he’s won tournaments, he turns up to these things here to win it. I admire that.’

Presented with those comments, Wilson agreed that maybe he has got a sturdier mindset than his semi-final opponent, who is beautiful cueist, but has just one ranking title to his name.

‘I think that’s fair to say,’ said the world number 12. ‘He’s got it all, Dave. He’s got one of the smoothest, nicest cue actions on tour but there’s always little bits and bobs with certain players that they have as an asset, you can’t be greedy and have them all.

‘I think I remember Ronnie saying you’ve got to juggle around in the tool box and see which one you can bring out today. I’d definitely say that my mental strength and belief are part of my biggest assets.’

However, players can easily become pigeonholed and their strengths lead to other aspects of their game to be seen as weaknesses, often falsely.

Asked if he felt his talent is underrated as a result of his mental strength being widely praised, a nerve was struck with the Warrior.

‘Absolutely. That’s been one thing that has really frustrated me,’ he said. ‘I picked up a cue when I was six years old. I’ve got some unbelievable stats from being a kid.

‘I naturally wanted to do that. My dad played a little bit of pool, but I just screamed every time I saw a snooker table. I feel like I was put on this earth to play snooker.

‘I do feel like I’m very talented. Not only that but I have had to go back to the drawing board and change my game. I think that takes a lot of talent as well.’

Wilson and Gilbert kick-off the most unexpected of semi-final line-ups at 1pm on Thursday before Jones and Bingham get their clash underway at 7pm.

Three qualifiers are in the final four, with Wilson the only seed left and Bingham the lone former champion still in the field.

MORE : Beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan says he didn’t want to play World Snooker Championship anyway

MORE : John Higgins speaks out on his snooker future after World Championship exit

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