Kyren feels ready after a 'consistent' season

Kyren Wilson believes he is heading into the Betfred World Championship on the back of a “consistent and solid” season.

It has been one or the more unusual years for the Kettering snooker star with tournaments on the World Snooker Tour having to be played behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The majority of those have been played in Milton Keynes with Wilson tasting success in both versions of the BetVictor Championship League.

He won the ranking version of the competition in October and then completed a unique double in the invitational event earlier this month, racking up a record-breaking 23 century breaks in the tournament.

He also achieved one of his main targets of getting into the Tour Championship - which is competed for by the top eight players on the one-year ranking list.

Wilson reached the quarter-finals of seven other competitions but fell at that hurdle.

However, the 29-year-old believes he is going to the Crucible in reasonable shape.

“I think it’s been a pretty consistent and solid season,” he said.

“My main goal was to get into the Tour Championship as part of the top eight on the one-year list from the start of the season and I managed to do that and if you are in that top eight each year you are mixing it with the best.

“I think that’s a good sign of where your game has been all season.

“It has been a little bit frustrating to not convert a few more of the quarter-finals I got into but I have come up against some great players who are hard to beat on their day.

“I just have to keep plugging away and try to win when you are in that situation next time.

“Overall, it’s been a decent season.”

Having played tournaments behind closed doors for the best part of a year now, fans are set to return for the World Championship.

The tournament has been selected as a pilot event with 1,000 people expected to allowed in each day.

That was expected to be the case last year when the event was delayed until July but, after cases of Covid-19 grew, it wasn’t until the final when fans were allowed back in to see Wilson lose out to Ronnie O’Sullivan in his first-ever final appearance.

However, it’s looking more likely that fans will be in the Crucible for the long haul this year.

Wilson added: “It will be strange won’t it?

“We have been playing behind closed doors for over a year now and that’s become the new norm. I don’t think anyone has particularly enjoyed it, it’s just been a case of getting on with what’s in front of you.

“I just hope it doesn’t go down the path of last year where we had the crowd for day one and then it was behind closed doors for the rest of the tournament up until the final.

“I hope we start with a crowd and we see it through with a crowd.”

Wellingborough’s Jamie O’Neill’s hopes of securing a place at the Crucible were ended in dramatic fashion last week.

O’Neill looked on course for victory over Jamie Clarke in the second round of the World Championship Qualifying.

However, the Welshman produced a stunning fightback to win 6-5 and end O’Neill’s hopes.