Kyren Wilson on Monday held his nerve as he overcame an impressive fightback from qualifier Zak Jones to win his first World Snooker Championship title.
A clearly emotional Wilson eventually triumphed 18-14 in the final at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre in northern England, but only after Jones, who lost the first seven frames of the best of 35 contest, had won three frames in a row from 17-11 down to give himself hope of a remarkable rally.
In the end, the 12th-ranked Englishman regained his composure sufficiently to see off his Welsh opponent.
Photo: Reuters
“Can you imagine how embarrassing it would have been if I’d lost and Bailey is dressed like that?” Wilson, pointing to his son, dressed in classic waistcoat and bow tie snooker attire, told the BBC.
“I’d like to say sorry to Jak for that outburst [shouting: ‘come on’ on match ball], but it does just mean so much to all of us,” the 32-year-old added. “My mum and dad have remortgaged and sacrificed their whole lives to get me here. My brother and wife too. The list goes on and on, it’s a massive team effort.”
Wilson also paid tribute to the resilient Jones.
“He was so tough and I don’t know if there’s many people left in Wales, the amount that were cheering for him,” he said. “Me and Jak have come through the junior ranks together. This is Jak’s first final, let alone a world final, and he’s conducted himself in an amazing fashion and I’m sure he’ll be back.”
Jones was only the ninth qualifier in 47 years at the Crucible to reach the final and he came within sight of emulating Terry Griffiths, his fellow Welshman, in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005 in winning the title.
“It’s been an unbelievable tournament for me. About a month ago I was twitching in my first qualifying match. It’s been a long month, but I’m happy with it,” he said.
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