Tournament in Sheffield
Englishman Kyren Wilson becomes snooker world champion for the first time
Kyren Wilson won the Snooker World Championship title for the first time. photo
© Mike Egerton/PA Wire/dpa
Kyren Wilson conquers the snooker throne in Sheffield. With his prize money of over half a million euros, he is also moving up the world rankings.
Kyren Wilson has won the title of world snooker champion for the first time. The 32-year-old Englishman defeated in the final of Sheffield beat Welsh outsider Jak Jones 18:14, securing the greatest success of his career to date.
In addition to the silver trophy, Wilson will receive prize money of 500,000 pounds, around 583,000 euros. Jones had only entered the tournament as a qualifier and surprised at the Crucible Theater with, among other things, a win against former champion Judd Trump.
Wilson follows the Belgian Luca Brecel, who secured his first world title last year. “The Warrior”, as the Englishman is called, has had a confident tournament. His 10:1 first round win against the Welshman Dominic Dale was followed by further clear victories over the Englishman Joe O’Connor (13:6), Scotland’s John Higgins (13:8) and the Englishman David Gilbert (17:11).
Even in the final, success was never really in danger thanks to a strong 7-1 start. Jones managed a century break with 105 points, but despite a decent performance in the evening it was no longer enough to turn things around. With the score at 16:11, a new Black had to decide the frame – Wilson skillfully converted over the boards and was then unstoppable. Joyful and relieved, he shouted a “Come on” into the Crucible when the game was decided.
In the new world rankings, Wilson is ranked third. Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen takes over the top spot from Ronnie O’Sullivan, who slips to fifth. Between Allen and Wilson is Trump. Finalist Jones improves 30 places to 14th place.