Kyren is just edged out in thrilling final

Kyren Wilson suffered an agonising defeat as he was edged out 10-9 by Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the ManBetX Champion of Champions in Coventry.
Kyren WilsonKyren Wilson
Kyren Wilson

The Kettering star came from 8-5 down to lead 9-8 and was just two pots away from victory in the 18th frame but couldn’t get over the finish line and O’Sullivan fought back to win with a trademark century in the decider.

After Wilson won the opening frame, O’Sullivan took five in a row with top breaks of 61, 94, 107 and 86.

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World number nine Wilson pulled two back with clearances of 42 and 86 then O’Sullivan made a 131 in the last frame of the opening session to lead 6-3.

Wilson took the first two of the evening session to close to 6-5, before O’Sullivan made a 94 in frame 12 and dominated the next to lead 8-5 at the interval.

But Wilson, chasing his third title of the season having won the Paul Hunter Classic and Six Red World Championship, then played his best snooker of the match as runs of 56, 56, 104 and 65 gave him four frames in a row.

At 9-8, a break of 61 had him on the brink of glory when he overcut a tricky red to a top corner. O’Sullivan replied with 36 before running out of position and attempting an extremely risky cross-double on the last red. He missed his target but was fortunate to snooker his opponent, and from the chance that followed he cleared for 9-9.

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Both players passed up chances early in the decider, and when an attempted double on a red went wrong for Wilson it proved his last shot, as O’Sullivan made a superb 110, his 11th century of the tournament.

Both players are now in Belfast for the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open, which starts today.

Wilson takes on Lee Walker in his first-round match this evening while Raunds’ Harvey Chandler is in action this morning against Xiao Guodong.