Champion Kyren so pleased to ‘get the job done’

Kettering's Kyren Wilson shows off the trophy after he won the BetVictor European Masters in Germany at the weekend. Pictures courtesy of World Snooker Tour

The Kettering snooker star enjoyed a superb week in the BetVictor European Masters in Fürth as he claimed wins over Lyu Haotian (5-1), Jimmy Robertson (5-2), Shaun Murphy (5-3) and Si Jiahui (5-2) to move into the semi-finals.

He then won a thrilling encounter 6-5 against Ali Carter to book himself a final clash with Barry Hawkins.

The 30-year-old opened up a 6-2 advantage in the afternoon on Sunday and then wrapped things up later on to complete a 9-3 success.

Kyren Wilson soaks up the applause after he secured the BetVictor European Masters title

The victory saw Wilson claim the £80,000 top prize and top spot in the BetVictor Series rankings while also moving up from eighth to sixth in the world rankings.

The final itself didn’t quite hit the heights both players are capable of but Wilson was delighted to come out on the right side of things.

“I felt like I had been outstanding all week to be honest,” the Kettering cueman said.

“It was just that, unfortunately, in the final the humidity got into the room.

“They have all the doors open when they are getting rid of all the other tables that aren’t needed anymore and it made the conditions difficult for us both.

“We had a bit of a chuckle about it during the first interval and we agreed the table was quite heavy and playing slowly.

“But that’s part and parcel of being in a final. You have to deal with the elements and just get the job done. Ultimately I managed to do that.”

Now back home, Wilson has a big event of a different kind to look forward to this weekend.

He will be hosting an exhibition at his training base Barratts Sports Bar in Northampton on Saturday night to raise money for Florence Bark.

An appeal to help fund life-saving treatment for Florence, who is from Corby, reached the huge target of £500,000 in just 33 days.

The communities of Corby and surrounding towns pulled together to raise the money after Florence’s family discovered their girl, who has leukemia, might need treatment that is not available on the NHS.

The exhibition is sold out and will see Wilson taking on 10 people who have paid £100 each to play him in a frame.

And those attending the sold out event will now have the added bonus of seeing his latest trophy.

“I am really looking forward to it,” he added.

“It couldn’t have worked out any better with the win in Germany so I will be bringing the trophy along on the night.

“It’s nice to be able to do something like this and it should be a great night.

“We are looking at anything between 150 and 200 people being there, which is brilliant.

“We have already raised around £3,000 but we have a big auction on the night with some amazing items so hopefully that will raise a bit more money.”