Kyren knows it's taking top displays to beat him

Kyren Wilson congratulates Luca Brecel after his semi-final defeat at the UK Championship in York. Picture courtesy of World Snooker

It took a sensational display by Belgium’s Luca Brecel to deny Kyren Wilson in another bid to win one of snooker’s Triple Crown titles earlier this month.

Kettering’s Wilson looked well on course for glory in York when he defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-5 in a high quality quarter-final.

But the world no.5 had no choice but to hold his hands up in the last four as Brecel produced an incredible performance, knocking in no fewer than four century breaks in his 6-4 win.

Wilson admitted he thought he played pretty well in the match, he was just simply beaten by the better man on the day.

And he conceded that has been the theme - players are having to play well to beat him. And that’s something he’s not overly upset about.

“It’s been a bit of a strange season to be honest,” Wilson said.

“We got off to a bit of a slow start with the backlash of Covid taking its toll in terms of travel restrictions and there are only so many tournaments you can have in the UK.

“We had quite a long period off after the World Championship and then a long period off after the British Open so I found it quite hard to get going to start with.

“But since the Northern Ireland Open, we have been playing virtually non-stop which is what I wanted. I just think I am the sort of player who gets stronger the more I play.

“I think I have picked up my consistency. There have been a couple of quarter-finals and a semi-final.

“I just got beaten by some unbelievable performances and I think that’s been the trend so far this season.

“Everybody who has beaten me has played out of their skin and I suppose it’s quite nice to know that’s what it is taking to beat me.

“I think the UK Championship probably showed that rankings aren’t everything. There are so many good players on Tour these days.

“It was good to see two young lads from outside of the UK (Brecel and China’s Zhao Xintong) doing well, it’s good for the sport.

“I would have liked it to be me but sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say ‘fair play’ for the performance another player has put in.

“I played well against Ronnie and I played well in the semi-final, so I really fancied it. But that’s snooker for you.”

Wilson, who turned 30 just before Christmas, is now gearing up for a busy start to 2022 as he plays in the Championship League on January 5 before the Masters begin on January 9 with the Kettering star due to play Stuart Bingham in the first round on January 12.