Kyren Wilson reveals his dream opponent in fantasy snooker final

The world number two looked in good nick during his opening round assignment in the capital, capping off a 6-2 victory over China's Si Jiahui with back-to-back century breaks in the final two frames.

'The Warrior' seems to be in a much better place with his game than before Christmas when he appeared visibly distressed during a first round defeat to Elliot Slessor at the UK Championship in York.

Speaking to the BBC shortly after his win over Si, Wilson explained that the cue issues he suffered with at the UK are now over, and he has been using new equipment since the Scottish Open.

Wilson identifies late snooker legend as his dream final opponent

In an exclusive interview with 247Bet, Wilson was asked who his dream opponent in a Triple Crown final would be, and why.

The Englishman responded with multiple answers, although top of his list was two-time world champion Alex Higgins - who also won the UK Championship, and was a two-time Masters champion.

Wilson said: “My real dream opponent is unfortunately no longer with us, because my dream opponent is the late Alex Higgins. I never got to play the Hurricane, but he completely catapulted the popularity of the sport back in the 80s.

“I never got to meet him, but I think playing against him would have been so much fun. You would have the whole of the world's attention because he had that captivating way about him. So yeah, my perfect final would be against Alex Higgins.”

Hopes for a Crucible final rematch with Ronnie O’Sullivan

In terms of current main tour contemporaries, ten-time ranking event champion Wilson would love to face arguably snooker's greatest-ever player, Ronnie O'Sullivan, in another major final.

The two met at the rescheduled and restricted - due to the Covid-19 Pandemic - 2020 World Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, with O'Sullivan securing what was his sixth world crown after an 18-8 victory.

That was Wilson's maiden Crucible final, but he returned to the same stage four years later and experienced the full show, claiming the sport's blue riband prize for the first time following an 18-14 final win over Jak Jones.

“Of the players currently on the tour, I always enjoy playing Ronnie [O’Sullivan] the most, so he would be my dream opponent” explained Wilson.

“Ronnie's been fantastic with me lately and has been giving me a lot of advice. He’s had a lot of time for me and to play him again in a major final again like I did at the Worlds [in 2020], that would be a really good experience for me in my career.

“Unfortunately, when I played Ronnie in the 2020 Worlds final, it was at a time when there was very limited crowd. So I would love to have that experience again, ideally in a packed out Crucible Theatre.”

Having turned 34-years-old only a few weeks ago, Wilson is currently the youngest player inside the world’s top eight, and could have at least another decade within the top echelons of the sport, and potentially several more Triple Crown finals to look forward to.

Fellow cueists Wilson could conceivably face in such finals are current world number one Judd Trump who is 36, and 28-year-old Zhao Xintong - the reigning world champion.

The prospect of meeting these two in massive title deciders is something that Wilson would relish: “To be honest, there's many good matchups that I always enjoy. I was always enjoy playing Judd Trump in finals.

“I would also love to face the new World Champion in Zhao Xintong, because of the snooker boom that's happened out in China due to him winning. He took the title off me last season. I think that would captivate the imagination of the Chinese fans.”

With Trump through to the last four at the Ally Pally, and in the opposite half of the draw to Wilson, the world’s top two ranked players could contest Sunday’s final. They have contested several finals down the years - including three last season which all went the way of Wilson - but never at a Triple Crown event.

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