No hangover for Kettering's Kyren in English Open

Kettering's Kyren Wilson lifted the lid on how he got over his World Championship heartbreak - an abandoned holiday to Portugal and an unexpected caravan trip to Wales.

The world No.6, who lost 18-8 against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the Crucible final, toppled Dominic Dale 4-2 in the first round of the English Open in Milton Keynes.

The tournament comes two months after his Sheffield adventure where he reached the final after edging past Anthony McGill in a heart-thumping semi-final duel.

Wilson was ready to let off steam after the showpiece but revealed how his son’s expired passport - coupled with coronavirus restrictions - led to a last-minute change of plan.

“It kind of hit me about two weeks later - I was just glad to see my family and hadn’t seen them for a while after locking myself away in the practice room,” said the 28-year-old.

“We had a bit of a nightmare in terms of holiday! We’d booked a holiday when Portugal came on the air bridge but as we went to check in for the flight two days before Finley’s passport had expired so we went caravanning instead!

“It wasn’t quite the same - under normal circumstances you’d shoot off to the passport office and get an emergency one but nowhere was open, so we just had to take it.

“I had a lovely infinity pool booked, a nice five-star apartment for me and the family so I was gutted.

“We went to Abergele instead and it chucked it down and it was like being on the Titanic! My in-laws live there so I got slaughtered a couple of nights with the in-laws, rightly so after that world final, and just enjoyed their company really.”

Wilson was suffering from no such hangover at Milton Keynes’ Marshall Arena, however, as breaks of 75, 59 and 51 propelled him to a comfortable victory.

Dale composed efforts of 94 and 56 himself but the three-time ranking event winner proved too hot to handle.

Wilson hailed the conditions in Milton Keynes and called on World Snooker to consider extending the venue's use across the busy calendar.

“I think the whole setup here is fantastic under the circumstances,” he added.

“Hopefully when we all get back to normal and crowds are allowed back in, I could see this as an amazing place to come and play snooker with crowds.

“For me it works closely, I live in Kettering and my snooker’s club’s half an hour away in Northampton so for me, it’s spot on.”

Wellingborough's Jamie O’Neill was also in first round action on Tuesday but slipped to a 4-2 defeat against two-time World Championship finalist Matthew Stevens.

World No.88 O’Neill made a fifth-frame break to match his ranking but visits of 95, 72, 63 and 61 from the former world No.4 downed the Northamptonshire player.

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