Kyren Wilson vows to come back stronger and why the Crucible Curse is getting harder to break

Two years ago, Wilson realised his dream of claiming snooker’s ultimate prize when he defeated Jak Jones 18-14 in the final to win the world title for the first time.

Whilst wearing the world crown, ‘The Warrior’ took his career to new heights of consistency, winning four ranking titles within the 2024/25 campaign. However, on his Crucible title defence, he was sent home on the opening day by qualifier Lei Peifan.

This season has been a rollercoaster for 34-year-old Wilson, who has had to contend with off-table issues to do with his wife’s health, and problems settling with a new cue.

‘The Warrior’ began the term in fantastic fashion by winning the Shanghai Masters invitational, and back in January at the Alexandra Palace, he collected the second Triple Crown accolade of his career when he defeated John Higgins in the 2026 Masters final.

But in ranking action, Wilson’s results record was very dissatisfying, not reaching the semi-finals of any ranked event. As a consequence, he failed to qualify for the Players Championship - which he was the reigning champion of - and the Tour Championship.

Coming into this year’s Crucible challenge with less snooker under his best that many of his rivals - although, that was almost the same story in 2024 - Wilson featured in one of the ties of the opening round as he won seven consecutive frames from 7-3 down to deny teenager Stan Moody, 10-7.

However, Wilson’s tournament was ended by Mark Allen in the last 16, as the Northern Irishman scored a 13-9 victory.

Speaking to World Snooker Championship sponsor Midnite, Wilson reflected on his limited participation in this year’s event: “It hurt. This is the tournament that you want to try and peak for and you put a little bit of extra work in. So obviously I was very disappointed to go out in the second round” said this season’s world number two.

“Now I'm doing a little bit of punditry and that kind of makes me want to get my cue back out. That makes me feel quite envious, quite jealous of the players out there. You know, I'm obviously happy for the guys but you want it to be yourself.

“I’ve got to work a bit harder, prepare a bit better for next year. I know what it takes to win the title. So yeah, I’ve just got to come back a bit stronger.”

Wilson believes the Crucible Curse weighs heavy on first-time winners

Wilson is one of the elite few who have their name engraved on the famous world snooker championship trophy, but he also became a victim of the ‘Crucible Curse’ - the sport’s most fabled hex - when Lei defeated him first round in Sheffield last year.

The 20th name on the list of first-time world champions at the Crucible who were unable to successfully defend the crown the following year, Wilson isn’t going to be the last entry to that club due to 2025 champion Zhao Xintong bowing out to Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals of this year’s blue riband extravaganza.

Englishman Wilson feels that the ‘Curse’ weighs heavy on first-time champions, and that it is getting more difficult to break it. He said: “It just brings more interest to the tournament. It puts more pressure on the defending champion.

“At the end of the day, it's a very difficult tournament to win. So the odds of somebody winning it for the first time and then coming back and defending it… it does seem like it's getting harder and harder each year.

“You've got the ‘Class of ‘92’ that are still hanging around and still playing some unbelievable snooker and then you’ve got the rise of fantastic young talent coming through. It’s making the curse more and more difficult to beat.

“From my own personal experience, I felt like you’re dragged from pillar to post a little bit more than you would normally. So your preparation takes a little bit more of a hit. That's part and parcel of trying to be a good ambassador as a world champion. So yeah, there's that sort of expectation. But, you know, if you can get through that first round, you've got a week off and things quieten down and you ease into the tournament.”

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

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