Kyren Wilson is knocking in breaks like Harry Kane bangs in goals – and the Kettering star reckons the return of fans to snooker halls will feel like he’s playing at Wembley.
Wilson, who lit up the UK Championship with a thrilling maximum 147 break in the first round, eased into the last 32 after a 6-2 victory against world No.59 Mark Joyce in Milton Keynes.
The Triple Crown tournament looks set to be one of the final events of the season to be held at a behind closed doors Marshall Arena, with the news January’s Masters will be held in front of fans – up to 1,000 per session – being met with widespread support from the game’s top players.
The world No.4 is relishing a return to a raucous Alexandra Palace and hopes to make the baize his own hallowed turf at the second major of the season.
Asked on his thoughts of the return of fans to snooker halls, the 28-year-old said: “It’ll feel like playing at Wembley with a football stadium, that’s how it will feel!
“It’s amazing and I’d so chuffed that that’s going to happen. It really gives us something as snooker players to look forward to. And as snooker fans, what a great opportunity to come and watch some amazing snooker.
“The Ally Pally is an amazing venue and probably one of my favourites. It’s a real, real classy setup and I hope that we can have a similar setup to last season because the guys at World Snooker did an amazing job, with the sofas, and the bar at the top.
“I don’t know what the restrictions will be around those but I’m delighted we’re going to have a crowd to play in front of.
“It was a really solid performance [today] – I think my all-round game was very strong and I made a couple of really crucial counter clearances. I’m really pleased with that performance.”
Wilson reached the World Championship final in the summer and is carrying on where he left off on the 2020-21 season.
The four-time ranking event winner rolled in visits of 97, 82, 62 and 51 to floor his opponent and book a third round clash against Kurt Maflin on Tuesday.
Norway’s Maflin, the world No.26, reached the World Championship quarter-finals in the summer and will pose a stern test for the in-form Wilson.
Cheers @Stuart__Bingham had to take my limelight didn’t you 😭😂
— Kyren Wilson (@KyrenWilson) November 25, 2020
Race to 2 Max’s take the pot 🤑
The Northamptonshire star is yet to scoop his first Triple Crown title but reckons a repeat of his Championship League triumph at the end of last month is well on the cards.
“I always believe I’m going to be one of the top contenders, and I always fancy trying to win any event I play in,” he added.
“It’s just about turning up and getting the job done – it’s not always as easy as that, and you have to stay in the moment and make sure you take your chances when they present themselves.
“I feel like I’ve managed to do that so far this season.”
Watch the UK Championship LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport app. Follow all the latest tournament news on Eurosport.co.uk
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here