Kettering's Kyren so grateful to have The Masters

Kyren Wilson is gearing up to make his fifth appearance at The Masters and is grateful he will have the chance to do so.

The Kettering snooker star and the other best players in the world will be in Milton Keynes from this weekend for one of the biggest events on the calendar.

Wilson is hoping to start 2021 in the similar form he showed during an unusual 2020, which saw him reach his first-ever World Championship final while also moving up to No.5 in the world rankings.

The Masters is normally held in front of a partisan crowd at the Alexandra Palace in London but, with the country back in a national lockdown, the tournament will now be held behind closed doors at Arena MK after elite sport was allowed to continue.

And Wilson, who reached the final of the Masters in 2018, said: “With how things are going and the current climate, we are lucky to even have the tournament on.

“You have to put that into perspective and all those at World Snooker have done an amazing job to give us the number of events we’ve had already this season.

“You wouldn’t be shocked if everything was cancelled with the way things have been going so to have had 20-odd events is incredible really.

“It has been moved to Milton Keynes, which is a bit of a shame because I was looking forward to a change of scenery and Ally Pally is a great venue even though it would have been odd without the crowd.

“But, like I said before, we are lucky to even have the event on and Milton Keynes has worked really well so far.

“All the players and officials are comfortable and know what they are doing there.”

Wilson’s campaign starts tomorrow (Sunday) night when he takes on world No.14 and World Grand Prix finalist Jack Lisowski.

The two players met at the same stage last year with Wilson claiming a 6-2 victory before losing out to eventual winner Stuart Bingham in the quarter-finals.

And the Kettering man knows it will be a tough start to what he hopes will be a memorable week.

“We met at the exact same stage last year and I have got a lot of time for Jack,” Wilson added.

“He is a lovely lad and he is one I always hope does well in tournaments, although obviously not when I am playing him!

“He is a really good talent and it was great to see him have a good run at the World Grand Prix just as the year ended and he lost in a really good final against Judd Trump.

“It’s going to be a really tough game just like every match at the Masters. Every player has really had to go some to get into the tournament so you never expect an easy draw.”