Kyren set for the last eight but his maximum remains the talk of the town

Kyren Wilson will play in the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open later this afternoon

The Kettering potter followed up his first-round heroics by booking his place in the quarter-finals last night, beating world No.9 Ding Junhui 4-2 at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena.

But his maximum break in his first round clash against Jackson Page has been the story of the week in the Welsh capital, just the second of his career after his exploits at the 2017 International Championship.

And as the world No.8 prepares for his last-eight encounter with Neil Robertson this afternoon (Friday), he said he couldn’t have been more grateful for his fans’ support.

“It’s gone crazy since the 147,” he said.

“I was on BBC Wales who were calling me at eight o’clock in the morning the day after, so it did go a bit crazy.

“My brother is linked up to my social media, and he said I had about 1,600 private messages saying congratulations on it.

“It just shows that I’m lucky - I’m very well-supported by the public and I really appreciate the fact they’ve got in touch with me.

“The 147 was nice but I felt like my game wasn’t where it was the week before at the World Grand Prix in Cheltenham - I’ve carried on trying to work hard while I’ve been here off the table, and I’ve started to improve in my performances.

“We play the game to play against the best players in the world, so to beat them is the best source of confidence that you can get.”

The 28-year-old has endured a topsy-turvy season, reaching the semi-finals at the World Grand Prix and World Open but succumbing to second round defeat at the UK Championship - one of the three Triple Crown events.

But he is hoping his match today - which coincides with both Valentine’s Day and his brother’s birthday - will see him continue his march to the title in Wales.

“It’s my brother’s birthday as well tomorrow funnily enough, so we might go for a candle-lit dinner or something!” he joked.

“It’s been quite a quiet season for me, but I know my game’s been there, so to start getting the results now is everything.”

Watch the Welsh Open live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds