In-form Kyren Wilson dazzles against world number one to reach Champion of Champions snooker semis
Kyren Wilson continued his brilliant form as he advanced to the last four of the 2026 Champion of Champions.
Wilson completes the semi-finals line-up at the prestigious £440,000 invitational event after winning Thursday's group at the Mattioli Arena in Leicester.
Chris Wakelin will meet Neil Robertson on Friday night in the opening semi, with Wednesday’s winner Shaun Murphy sharing the baize with Wilson the following evening.
Having won back-to-back ranking events in recent weeks at the Northern Ireland Open and International Championship, Wilson arrived in Leicester buzzing and as the most in-form player in the world.
Ultimately aiming to go one step further than his runner-up finish in 2018, Wilson began his latest Champion of Champions campaign by making breaks of 73 and 72 in defeating English Open champion Ali Carter, 4-2.
Returning a few hours later for the group final, Wilson faced world number one Zhao Xintong who first up in the afternoon session had enjoyed a straightforward 4-0 victory over World Open title holder Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, top scoring with an 85.
A rerun of a quarter-final match from last year's event - which Zhao won in dramatic fashion on the final black in the deciding frame - Wilson was out for green baize revenge, and he certainly delivered on that.
Breaks of 75, 100, 123 and 86 put the 34-year-old Englishman in total control and 4-0 up at the mid-session interval.
On resumption, 'The Warrior' compiled his third century of the encounter - a 104 - before Zhao punished an unexpected miss from his opponent in frame six, crafting a 78 to open his account and avoid a whitewash loss.
However, 2025 World Champion Zhao didn't score another point as 2024 World Champion Wilson wrapped up victory in the next.
World No.1 has been defeated ❌ Kyren Wilson takes the win and there was no stopping him! 🤩 @sportsbetio #ChampOfChamps https://t.co/fAXL75GlXS
— Champion Of Champions (@ChampOfChamps) November 12, 2026
Wilson is now on a 14-match winning streak across his last three tournaments on the professional snooker circuit.
In order to reach his second Champion of Champions final, though, Wilson will need to end a six-match losing streak against Murphy. Losses in that sequence include defeats in the 2023 Tour Championship and 2025 Masters finals.
This weekend's semi-finals will be the best of 11 frames, with Sunday's best of 19 final played across two sessions.
To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 Champion of Champions, visit our tournament information centre here.