Kyren Wilson jokes about wishing fellow snooker star would "sod off" as he names his UK title favourites

The 33-year-old has been preparing for his latest title tilt at snooker's second-most prestigious ranking tournament, which will be holding its 49th edition in 2025.

World number two Wilson - who is the only player from the top 11 seeds who hasn't won the UK title before - has been handed a tricky opening round tie against world number 21 Elliot Slessor, the highest ranked player who emerged from the recent qualifying rounds staged in Wigan.

Wilson claimed the sport's ultimate prize in 2024, when off the back of a largely frustrating season he went all the way at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, defeating Jak Jones 18-14 in the final to win the World Championship.

The Englishman thrived whilst wearing the world crown, winning four ranking events in the following season - pushing his overall career tally into double figures - and making the final of two invitational events, including the Masters at the Alexandra Palace.

The term ended in disappointment, though, as he suffered the 'Crucible Curse' when losing to qualifier Lei Peifan, 10-9, on the opening day of the televised stages of the 2025 World Championship.

However, in his next competition outing - the Shanghai Masters at the start of this season - Wilson quickly returned to the top step of the podium after defeating Ali Carter 11-9 in the final to record his second title triumph in the tournament, a decade on from his big breakthrough there.

Since then it has been an underwhelming return for Wilson having not featured in a semi-final, so it would be a great time to enjoy a run during the £1.2 million event at the Barbican Centre.

Wilson doesn’t think there is a particular man to beat at UK Championship

Speaking to Dream Vegas ahead of his trip to York, 'The Warrior' discussed how long the list of likely title candidates could be, given there have been 11 different winners from this season's first 11 events.

"If you're looking at the UK Championship, you could probably pick 10 to 16 different winners" Wilson said.

"Honestly, it's that tight. So yeah, I don't think there is a particular man to beat, because there's been so many different winners.

Assessing his own results from the ongoing term, Wilson admits both he and world number one and defending UK Champion Judd Trump have yet to hit the heights this season, but neither should be discounted for the crown.

"I think that last season I was the standout player, and then just behind me I think was Judd Trump. But we both have not really been on it this season. I have won a tournament this season, but we've not been as much in the mix. Judd's had a couple of finals, but for someone as high quality as Judd, you’re expecting the wins.

"So you could throw us into the mix, and you could throw someone like Ronnie [O’Sullivan] who hasn't won yet this season, but he will always still be in the mix.

Kyren Wilson jokes about Mark Williams: "retire and sod off"

With the standard on the World Snooker Tour seemingly deeper than its ever been, the pool of title contenders for the 2025 UK Championship title is sizable.

Several players will be traveling to the Barbican fresh from triumphs in recent weeks. Wu Yize has not played on the top tier since his maiden ranking event glory at the International Championship, and Mark Selby hasn't either after his Champion of Champions victory in his home city of Leicester.

World Champion Zhao Xintong will be back on the baize following his success at the Riyadh Season Championship where he eliminated former world champions Shaun Murphy, Trump, and then Neil Robertson in the final to collect the title and £250,000 winner's purse. Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry has labelled Zhao as the man to beat in York.

Talking about other names to potentially lift the iconic UK trophy on the evening of December 7th, Wilson listed 50-year-old Mark Williams - the oldest-ever winner of a ranking event at last month's Xi'an Grand Prix - and joked about wanting the three-time world champion off the tour.

"There's the likes of Mark Selby too, who just won the Champion of Champions. Neil Robertson's now winning. Mark Williams is still winning. I just wish Mark Williams would retire and sod off, but it's just not happening. So they're all in with a great chance and it's going to be an interesting tournament.

"...I think you would have to look at Zhao Xintong because he's just won the Riyadh Season Championship in Saudi Arabia. Mark Selby wasn't playing in that, but he won the tournament before that, so maybe I could say winning breeds confidence, and they'll be the tipped favourites".

To view the full draw, results, match schedule, and other information from the 2025 UK Championship, visit here.

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