Kyren Wilson set for rankings fall after Crucible exit but looking forward to 'new chapter'

Despite having battled back from 5-0 down to lead, Wilson was defeated 13-9 by Northern Irishman Allen on Saturday lunchtime at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Wilson’s last 16 exit from snooker’s blue riband event means he will drop down the world rankings when they are next revised.

Two years ago, Englishman Wilson enjoyed his finest day in the sport when he won the world title for the first time after an 18-14 victory over Jak Jones in the final.

Whilst wearing the crown the following season, ‘The Warrior’ took his career to new heights of consistency, winning four ranking titles during the term, although he fell victim to the Crucible Curse on the opening day of his world title defence.

This 2025/26 campaign has been a rollercoaster for Wilson, who has had to contend with issues off the table with the health of his wife, and ongoing cue problems having had to ditch the one he claimed the world championship with in 2024.

It all began great for Wilson, though, as he won the lucrative Shanghai Masters invitational back in August. A few months later, he scooped the second Triple Crown accolade of his career as he got the better of John Higgins in the final at the Alexandra Palace in London to win the 2026 Masters.

But in ranking competition, it has been a real struggle over the past several months. From winning four titles the previous season, he did not reach a single ranked semi-final this time around. As a consequence, he failed the qualify for the Players Championship - for which he was the reigning champion at the time - and the Tour Championship.

Wilson did record a brilliant comeback win over teenage debutant Stan Moody in the opening round of this year’s World Snooker Championship - stringing seven consecutive frames from 7-3 down - but was shown the exit door by former world one Allen in round two.

Due to the world rankings working on a rolling, two-year money-based system, the £500,000 Wilson earned 24 months ago at the Crucible is removed from his cumulative total and he will drop at least four places to sixth in the updated standings when the Championship concludes.

Wilson pledges to put issues “behind him” next season

Speaking to the BBC after his Crucible elimination, Wilson was understandably disappointed, but held his head up high, saying: “I’m disappointed to go out in this round. I worked very hard coming into this event, but too many sort of different variables - you can’t go into this tournament and go the distance if you’re not kind of settled.”

Because of his success in the 2024/25 term, Wilson will have big chunks of money to defend next season, and as crazy as it sounds, his top 16 status may be doubt at some point.

But the 34-year-old appears to be holding a positive outlook to those challenges ahead, and is looking forward to sorting out issues with cue in the off-season: “I’m probably boring people talking about it all the time. It’s just frustrating, I always wear my heart on my sleeve so I always speak my mind - some people don’t like it, some people appreciate it, but I’m really looking forward to next season, it’s going to be a new chapter. I can put all of this behind me and hopefully have a good season off the back of it”

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 World Snooker Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.