Paul Hunter Classic champion Kyren Wilson has received criticism after he tweeted stating a number of players “couldn’t be bothered” to enter the tournament.

A number of his fellow professionals – including world champion Mark Williams – approached Wilson about the remark he made less than 24 hours after beating Peter Ebdon to take home the trophy.

The competition is named in honour of three-times Masters winner Paul Hunter who died in October 2006 after losing his battle at cancer at the age of 27.

Wilson, who is now ranked eighth in the world, was one of only three of the word’s top 16 stars to play in the ranking event which had a top prize of £20,000.

Kyren Wilson. Picture by Monique Limbos

The former Shanghai Masters winner tweeted: “I entered the #PaulHunterClassic to remember a great player who inspired me to play snooker it’s not always about the money, it’s a shame some of the lads who were about when Paul was couldn’t be bothered to enter…bonus is I’m now in champion of champions as a result of it.”

Williams, who lifted his third World Championship crown just three months ago, tweeted Wilson back to say his tweet was wrongly worded.

READ MORE: Barry Hawkins questions whether the Paul Hunter Classic should be a major ranking event

Wilson also received criticism from Michael Holt who labelled his tweet as “daft” and Barry Hawkins responded by saying the phrase “couldn’t be bothered” was wrong.

Hawkins made the point that the tournament was in late August and many players used the time to spend with their young families.

In a later tweet Wilson admitted he was “maybe wrong” to use the phrase “couldn’t be bothered”.

He tweeted: “Maybe I worded it wrong I wasn’t aiming it at any particular player, I’m talking as a whole.”