Shanghai Masters winner Kyren Wilson admitted he felt his first ranking event triumph had slipped away from him before he fought back to clinch his biggest win ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilson held off a strong fightback from Judd Trump to lift his first ranking title of his career with a brilliant break of 75 in the deciding frame – the biggest of his life.

The 23-year-old, who beat Ding Junhui and Mark Allen to reach the final, dominated most of the final taking a commanding 8-4 lead at one stage,

But Trump, one of the world’s leading stars in the game, hit back winning five of the next six frames to force a showdown decider.

The Bristol star had the first chance but missed a tough red to middle, leaving Wilson a thin cut which he put away confidently – en-route to a match winning break of 75 which earned him the £85,000 winning prize.

The stunning victory moved Wilson up to 22nd place in the world rankings list.  From being 54th in the world, he is one of the lowest-ranked players to win a full ranking title in snooker history.

Following the surprising win, he said lifting his first major trophy was a dream come true but confessed he thought his huge moment had got away from him.

“It’s every player’s dream to win his first ranking title – it will always stay in my memory.” he said.

“I felt like crying at the end because it means so much to me. It felt as if it was slipping away from me, so to pull through in the end was just a relief. The fans were fantastic and the noise will live with me forever.

“Judd put me under a lot of pressure from 9-7 down. He goes for his shots and you never feel safe against him. I got a half chance in the last frame with a red to a middle pocket and I just thought ‘this is my time.’ Luckily it went in and I cleared up.

“I didn’t want it to go to 9-9 but you just have to stay in the present and deal with what is in front of you. There wasn’t much I could do from 9-7, I just had to stick in there and wait for a chance.”

His victory also guaranteed him a spot in November’s Champion of Champions event at Coventry’s Ricoh Arena where he will again face some of the world’s biggest names.

WILSON’S ROUTE TO SHANGHAI GLORY

WC – beat Wang Yuchen 5-1
R1 – beat Joe Perry 5-2
R2 – beat Michael Holt 5-1
QF – beat Ding Junhui 5-4
SF – beat Mark Allen 6-1
FINAL – beat Judd Trump 10-9