WIL I NEVER!
Kyren Wilson WINS first ever World Snooker Championship after spirited fightback from 200/1 outsider Jak Jones
English ace survived a nervy final session to overcome the outsider
TEARFUL family guy Kyren Wilson became King of the Crucible for the first time – after battling through his kids’ health scares and private turmoil.
The Warrior crushed the spirited comeback of qualifier Jak Jones 18-14 in a tense-filled final of the World Snooker Championship.
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This season, Wilson has juggled major setbacks at home, which reduced the length and frequency of practice sessions so he could drive his two boys to school and hospital appointments.
That is because his wife Sophie had to surrender her driving licence due to epilepsy.
Not only that, his six-year-old son Bailey – who last year was diagnosed with a serious medical problem – is set for surgery after breaking his nose in a school accident.
Family has always come first for Wilson but it is to his credit he has managed to focus firmly on events on the table.
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As he clinched victory he cried tears of joy as he hugged his sons, and apologised to Jones for one family member shouting "World Champion...GET IN THERE!”
He said: “I’d like to say sorry to Jak for that outburst. It means so much to us.
“My parents have re-mortgaged, sacrificed their whole lives to keep me here. My brother, too. It’s a massive team effort.
“I said I would never cry again but I have. Jak was so tough. I don’t know if there are any people left in Wales, the amount of people cheering for him.
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“My kids said in a TV interview that their sporting idol was (Cristiano) Ronaldo – hopefully I have overtaken him now.”
Jones said: “Congratulations to Kyren and his family. They deserved it so much.
World Snooker Champion Kyren Wilson apologises to Jak Jones live on TV after winning first Crucible title
“An unbelievable tournament for me. A month ago, I was twitching in my first qualifying match. I am happy with that.“I thought if I would try tried my best and see what happens but Kyren is solid and has a good all-round game. It wasn’t to be.”
Thanks to a hypnotherapist, he accumulated the necessary 71 frames across 17 days to bank the £500,000 top prize.
A holiday to Portugal, in which he had his pre-Worlds blond hair highlights, proved the secret to his success.
And having lost in his previous final appearance – Ronnie O’Sullivan battered him in the Covid-hit 2020 year – he was determined not to surrender his moment of destiny.
The final frame on Sunday was a critical one because Wilson, 32, stole it after a tension-ridden ding-dong on the final black, having successfully found the one snooker he required on the colours.
It meant Jones, known as the Silent Assassin, went to bed 11-6 behind in his first-ever ranking final and with plenty of regrets swirling round his head.
And he did not hold back the anger, branding his first-session display, in which he was 7-1 down, as “shocking, absolutely shocking”.
There was the possibility of this being done with a session to spare as was the case in 1983, 1989 and 1993.
But Jones, 30, prevented that from happening by winning the opening two frames of Bank Holiday Monday with successive breaks of 64 and 59.
There was a six-minute delay before the start of the 24th frame because a woman in the audience PUKED up and staff needed to clean up the mess.
Four frames were won by both players in the third session which meant Wilson led 15-10 heading into the biggest night of his professional life.
Jones, a 150-1 pre-tournament bet, may have knocked in a confidence-boosting 90 in frame 22 but three frames later, he cracked under the pressure of the Crucible cauldron.
The yellow he missed into a middle pocket essentially gifted-wrapped frame 25 for Wilson, who gladly re-established his five-frame advantage.
A deficit that nobody has ever overturned in a fourth session of a world final.
Welshman Jones, who does not wear a bowtie due to his asthma, has been involved in 46 hours of match time to get to this point.
It is little wonder he made sloppy mistakes – but credit to Wilson for being able to capitalise when they came his way.
In fairness, Jones gained some respectability with a break of 105 in frame 27 – his third century of the champs – and he was on course for a 147 in frame 30 until the 13th red refused to go down.
There were murmurings among some that perhaps Jones could pull off this fightback as the pressure look to weigh heavily on Wilson’s shoulders.
Wilson played a trick shot on a respotted black in frame 28 and then finally clinched victory with a break of 42.
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Wilson – the best thing to come out of Kettering since the production of Weetabix – is the 23rd different world champion and leapfrogs Ronnie O’Sullivan into a career high world No.3 spot.
Jones, the new world No.14, may not have his name on the silver lady trophy despite his late flourish but a £200,000 cheque for being the runner-up will soften the blow.
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