Kyren Wilson produces gritty fightback to stun teenager Moody and progress at World Championship
Kettering's Kyren Wilson produced a stunning fightback to beat teenager Stan Moody 10-7 in the first round of the Halo World Championship at The Crucible in Sheffield on Monday night.
The 2024 world champion looked to be heading out of the tournament at the first round stage for the second year in succession when he lost the opening frame of the evening session to the trail 7-3.
On his Crucible debut, Moody had produced some scintillating snooker to at one point open up a 6-2 lead, and he then won the evening session opener to go 7-3 clear.
But Wilson, who trains out of Barratts Club in Northampton, showed all his grit, quality and experience to dig in and reel off seven successive frames to take the match 10-7.
Moody, who hails from Halifax, did have his chances, missing crucial pots when he looked set to go 8-3 and 8-6 ahead.
Even in what proved to be the final frame, he missed a difficult black that would have reduced Wilson's advantage to 9-8.
That miss gave Wilson the chance to win the frame and the match, and he took it before punching the air in delight after securing victory in a match in which he made just two 50-plus breaks.
"It was really tough, at 7-3 I had to keep going to the well," said Wilson, who won the Masters at the start of the year.
"I wasn't playing great but I made some dogged clearances and I had to keep doing the right things.
"I knew I had more experience than Stan here and that was bound to be a factor.
"Stan is a credit to the younger generation, my kids are often supporting him.
"He was very impressive in the morning and I am sure he will learn from this experience, it won't be the last time you see him here.
"I won a couple of big frames which must have sapped the energy out of him."
Moody said: "I'm gutted, I lost too many bad frames. I had the match won at 7-3 then it turned around but I felt comfortable out there.
"It was still a great experience and I have to learn from it."
Wilson, who has endured a difficult season aside from that Masters success, now goes on to play Northern Irishman Mark Allen in the second round, with the match scheduled to start on Thursday night at 7pm.
Allen overcame China's Zhang Anda 10-6 in his first round encounter.