Kyren Wilson on eve of defending Crucible crown: "Book me a hospital bed if I win a second world title"

Twelve months ago, Wilson arrived at the Crucible as a largely unfancied contender by the snooker community following a disappointing season up until that point. However, he ended the campaign winning the sport’s ultimate prize for the first time in his career after defeating Jak Jones 18-14 in the final.

Wilson will step out into the same arena on Saturday morning knowing that no first-time Crucible World Champion has retained the blue riband event there.

Talk of the ‘Crucible Curse’ has been rumbling on ever since he lifted the iconic trophy last May, and on the eve of this year’s tournament, the world number two is glad that the action is about the begin.

“I am close to getting sick of the Crucible curse, I am getting there!” said Wilson.

“But no, it’s part and parcel, it’s great for the media team, it creates another story and it’s great for the fans.”

Whilst Wilson seemed like an unlikely candidate in 2024, the opposite is true this time around. Within the space of the last year, ‘The Warrior’ has doubled his career ranking event title tally from five to ten.

The season started poorly for Wilson. He lost in the opening phase of the behind-closed-doors Championship League Ranking Event, and then on his big stage debut as the World Champion, he was whitewashed 6-0 by Zhou Yuelong in his opening match at the Shanghai Masters.

But after that, it has been a truly incredible term for Wilson, as he has thrived as a player whilst wearing the world crown.

He quickly quietened down any doubters by winning the second ranking event of the season at the Xi’an Grand Prix in China, and in November, Wilson won his first Home Nations Series title at the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast.

Wilson had an amazing start to 2025, reaching the final of the first three events on the professional circuit - the Masters, German Masters, and Championship League Invitational; claiming the top prize in Berlin.

The following month in March, Wilson collected his first Players Series accolade at the Players Championship in Telford after ousting world number one Trump 10-9 in a thrilling final. That was the third time that Wilson and Trump have faced each other in a final this season, and Wilson has won all three.

But with these plaudits comes pressure and expectations, and Wilson knows that as he heads into the final event of the season: “There’s definitely more [pressure] on me this year, there’s a lot more media attention, I’ve had a lot more off-table duties to do ahead of this year’s world championships compared to last. But what a great position to be in.

“I just can’t believe that year has gone so quickly. It feels like it was only yesterday I was in there lifting that world title, so hopefully I can do the same again this year.

“Book me a hospital bed if I win a second world title! I enjoyed last year, so I’ll probably celebrate with more of the same.”

Wilson happy that Ronnie O’Sullivan is at the Crucible

The World Champion will be sharing the spotlight with 31 other players, though, and one of those will be record-equally seven-time winner Ronnie O’Sullivan, who has confirmed that he will be playing after weeks of speculation.

O’Sullivan has not played on the professional tour since the start of January when he deliberately snapped his cue and withdraw with one match still to play at the Championship League Invitational in Leicester.

Wilson lost to O’Sullivan in his first Crucible final in 2020, but he is pleased that the ‘Class of 92’ member is back.

“It’s absolutely great to see Ronnie O’Sullivan here. It’s great for the fans, great for the media, great for himself. I’m sure he’s missed playing.” Wilson said.

In the first round, 33-year-old Wilson will play Scottish Open champion Lei Peifan, who is making his debut at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’. If the number one seed navigates that opening tie, he could meet Jones in round two in a rerun of last year’s title fixture there.

It’s a prospect that Wilson agrees would be an exciting one: “It would be great, it would be really good. From a media point of view it would be great to play him in the second round.

“But we’ve both got first round matches so you can’t look too far ahead.”

Please visit our 2025 World Snooker Championship tournament information centre here for details on the draw, results, format and order of play.

Kyren Wilson was speaking to Midnite, the official UK Betting and Casino Partner of the 2025 World Snooker Championship.

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