It’s the curse that has hung over newly crowned snooker world champions for 60 years, and now Kyren Wilson is out to break it. In May this year, the Englishman landed the sport’s most prestigious prize for the first time in his career, beating Jak Jones in the final.
The 32-year-old has since appeared determined not to go down as a ‘one hit wonder’, beating both Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump on his way to winning the Xi’an Grand Prix in August.
And he’s targeting more silverware next week at the Northern Ireland Open, where he takes on David Grace in his opening match on Tuesday.
But if he is to cement his rise to the top, then the true test of Wilson’s longevity will come at the Crucible next year. Since the World Snooker Championship switched to the Sheffield venue in 1977, no first-time winner has retained the title, with John Pulman the last player to pull off that feat in 1964.
It’s a statistic that Wilson actually helped reinforce on his way to the title this year, knocking out defending champion Luca Brecel in the opening round. However, ’the warrior’ has now admitted he’s determined to break the ‘Crucible curse’ when his own defence gets underway next May.
“I’m already thinking about it, I was already thinking about it in the semi-finals of the World Championship, to be honest,” he told Metro. “That’s just how positive I try to be. I feel like I’ve done it so many years now and had such a good, consistent record that I know how to deal with every scenario there.
“I’ve had mental matches that have gone my way and that haven’t gone my way. I’ve had things going on off the table, behind closed doors, so I feel I can manage any situation that comes up. I’ll tackle it with all I have and I feel like I’ve got a good chance of doing it.”
The 32-year-old also conceded that he had taken his foot off their gas after following his Sheffield triumph with the win in China, but was now refreshed and fully focussed. That’s not to say he didn’t enjoy his downtime though.
“In hindsight, I went on holiday to Dubai with the family and took my foot off the gas after that before Saudi,” he continued. “I got on the pina coladas instead of the practice table and maybe I shouldn’t have. But it felt amazing, I was really pleased with that.”
Last month, Wilson reached a career high No.2 in the world rankings. And he’s also revealed he’d been taking advice from fellow one-time world champions Stuart Bingham and Peter Ebdon on how to maintain momentum after reaching the pinnacle.
The last player to successfully retain a world title was Mark Selby. Wilson’s compatriot beat Ding Junhui in the final in 2016, and then prevailed at the same stage against icon John Higgins 12 months later.
