World Championship 2024: How ‘highly-focused’ family man Kyren Wilson came good at perfect time - David Hendon
Updated 08/05/2024 at 08:45 GMT
Kyren Wilson was crowned the winner of the 2024 World Snooker Championship after holding off Jak Jones to win the Crucible final 18-14. Although not among the pre-tournament favourites, Wilson upset the odds with fantastic consistency over two weeks to win the tournament for the first time. Eurosport expert David Hendon looks at how Wilson pulled it off and the other talking points from the event.
'Tears are flowing!' - Wilson clinches Crucible glory with emotional celebrations
Kyren Wilson had an understanding headteacher. As a boy he demonstrated such promise with a cue in his hand that he was given Fridays off school to hone his skills at a local snooker academy.
The 32 year-old has graduated in style by becoming world champion for the first time, the last man standing at the end of the 17-day Crucible marathon.
He had not been heavily fancied before it all began, featuring in only one semi-final all season and missing from some of the biggest tournaments due to a drop off in form. But Wilson had shown his pedigree in Sheffield before, with a run to the 2020 final and two other semi-final appearances on his CV. From early on in this year’s event, he sensed it was his time.
This inner belief must have been shaken a little as Jak Jones came back at him in the final, closing the gap from 17-11 to 17-14 to suggest the recovery of all recoveries, but Wilson potted the key balls in the next frame to cross the winning line before the tears came.
We’re often told the great champions have to be selfish. Wilson is not. He’s not even doing it for himself. Right from the start, family has been the driving force behind everything.
His father, Rob, has multiple sclerosis, which led Wilson to undertake a charity sky dive on his 18th birthday. He nearly withdrew from the 2015 Shanghai Masters because he didn’t want to miss a family celebration but made the trip and won his first ranking title.
By the time of this year’s World Championship he had won five ranking events in total but there were worrying off-table distractions. His wife, Sophie, suffered a stroke brought on by her epilepsy. His youngest son, Bailey, sustained an injury at school that requires surgery.
Maybe snooker was a welcome release from these difficult real life troubles. From the off, Wilson seemed highly focused and ready for the challenge.
Wilson pays emotional tribute to family after World Championship glory
He trounced Dominic Dale 10-1 and comfortably saw off Joe O’Connor 13-6 before a quarter-final showdown with John Higgins, who had blitzed him 13-2 in the second round last year.
That defeat was especially scarring as Wilson had gone into the event 12 months ago off the back of a run to the Tour Championship final. He was feeling good and playing superbly, but Higgins dismantled him.
This time it was a different story. Wilson got ahead early, withstood a mid-match recovery, and then pulled away to win 13-8. Dave Gilbert held him to 9-9 in the semi-final before Wilson took control to clinch a 17-11 victory.
Jones, perhaps the most unexpected Crucible finalist ever, was nervous and all at sea on the first afternoon, losing the first seven frames. He battled back creditably at night but Wilson’s last black steal kept him at bay 11-6.
Jones needed to win the third session but only drew it and the five-frame gap remained. He played the better snooker for much of the final night but a full scale comeback was asking a lot and never materialised.
So, it’s over for another year. The 2024 tournament will not go down as a vintage championship but, as usual, it contained moments of great drama.
On the opening evening, Gilbert recovered from 9-6 down to ensure the Crucible Curse landed on defending champion Luca Brecel. Jack Lisowski won a high-quality encounter against Ding Junhui in a decider while Robert Milkins beat Pang Junxu 10-9 in a match low on standard but high on excitement.
It took until day 10 for the real highlight, Higgins’s brilliant match-winning clearance of 71 to beat Mark Allen 13-12. The picture of a thrilled Higgins, standing arms aloft, joins the gallery of iconic Crucible images.
'One of the centuries of the tournament' - Wilson makes his fourth ton of World final
Allen had won three titles during the season, Gary Wilson two and Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump five apiece, but the formbook was shredded in this most unpredictable of championships.
Perhaps the week-in, week-out grind of the World Snooker Tour took its toll. Perhaps they each had raised expectations after stellar campaigns. Perhaps the World Championship is just a completely different beast to every other event so does not bear comparison.
To be fair to Allen, he did little wrong against Higgins, but Gary Wilson went down in flames in round one to Stuart Bingham and Trump was very poor in losing to Jones in the quarter-finals, unable to make a 30 break in the final session.
Trump’s defeat seemed to open the door even wider for O’Sullivan’s march towards a record eighth world title but he was edgy against Bingham, bickering with the referee as he departed in the quarter-finals for a second year running.
It left an unlikely last four line-up, with Jones again proving his capacity to unsettle bigger names by beating Bingham 17-12.
The Welshman is a reluctant star with no love of the limelight, but he will have to get used to it as he will start next season in the top 16 after a brilliant few weeks.
Off the table, the future of the championship at the Crucible was brought into question while rumours of a breakaway tour rose and then receded.
Barry Hearn, the charismatic president of Matchroom Sport, retired as WST chairman three years ago but is still being rolled out for interviews. He believes Sheffield City Council should build a new venue for the tournament or somehow make the Crucible bigger, otherwise the 2027 edition will be the last staged in the Steel City.
We’ll see about that. When the time comes to make the decision, it will not be an easy one for Hearn, whose life changed when Steve Davis, the young Londoner he was managing in his first foray into sports promotion, won the world title in 1981.
Players and pundits endlessly gave their views about the future of the Crucible. It would be nice to think they will take some time to listen to the fans, including those who travelled from around the globe to make what has become an annual pilgrimage for snooker lovers.
This little theatre isn’t perfect but its walls echo with history and memories that money really can’t buy. Each champion for more than 40 years has faced the same test, the same high pressure moments. To win the title here is to achieve greatness.
Could Kyren Wilson have pocketed more cash had the final been staged in Riyadh or some cavernous arena elsewhere?
Of course.
Would it have been as special?
Not a chance.
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