Kyren Wilson joins elite group by taking game to new level as world champion

Kyren Wilson picked up his third title of the season so far at the German Masters on Sunday night, enjoying the best campaign of his career after ending the last as world champion.

As the Warrior conquered the Crucible in May he became a six-time ranking event winner, now he has nine to his name thanks to victories in Xi’an, Belfast and Berlin.

These triumphs have elevated Wilson to a position in the sport he has never before held.

With Judd Trump holding onto the world number one spot, there remains a debate over who is the finest player on the planet right now, but Wilson is firmly in the conversation which had never been the case before his last few trophy-laden months.

The way the 33-year-old has taken to life as world champion is extremely impressive, putting to bed the notion that his World Championship win was any sort of fluke. You can’t fluke winning 71 frames at the Crucible, but with Wilson’s win coming somewhat out of the blue and against a pretty favourable draw, he was accused of that. Surely no more.

As recently as the world champion before Wilson, it was made clear that Crucible glory can weigh very heavily on a first-time winner. Luca Brecel produced one of the most memorable World Championship wins in history in 2023 but has had a pretty disastrous time on the table since then, admitting that he was glad to no longer be world champ when he lost in the first round to Dave Gilbert in April.

Other first-time world champions have struggled in the following months, notably two men who are close to Wilson in Peter Ebdon and Stuart Bingham.

Ebdon didn’t reach any tournament final the season after he conquered the world in 2002, while Bingham did make it to one showpiece the campaign after his crowning moment in 2015, but won no silverware.

Neither were anywhere near as bad as Brecel’s year in 23/24, but both would have considered it a disappointing time as they struggled to deal with the mantle of being world champion and all the added requests of their time.

Ken Doherty and Joe Johnson may have underwhelmed as world champions, but got themselves back into the Crucible final the next year, which is some feat on its own.

Players really flopping as world champion is actually not that common and has become a bit of a cliché. Undoubtedly it is difficult, life changes after the Crucible, but most world champs tend to continue at a similar level of success as before their crowning moment.

The likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Neil Robertson and Mark Williams didn’t dominate the competition after their first World Championship wins, but they had perfectly good seasons and added trophies to their collections.

What is rare is doing what Wilson is currently achieving by taking his game to new heights.

It has been done by some. Trump won a record six ranking titles the season after his World Championship victory, while Stephen Hendry won five and the Masters after he first reigned in Sheffield in 1990.

John Higgins (won the UK and Masters), Steve Davis (UK and Masters) and John Parrott (won the UK and reached the Masters final) all had very impressive campaigns after their first Crucible triumph, arguably better than an average season would have looked like before they landed the sport’s biggest prize.

So Wilson’s season so far is not unprecedented, but it is a small group of players that he has joined by shining brighter than ever before after conquering the Crucible.

‘I’m just riding the crest of a wave,’ he said after his 10-9 win over Barry Hawkins in Berlin on Sunday. ‘I wanted to make the most of winning the World Championship and kick-on and try to win more and more and more.

‘I have got such an air of confidence about me now. I never doubted for a second that I would not do the job at 9-9. I felt so calm. That is what winning the World Championship has done for me – knowing that I can do it.

‘It’s been an incredible season so far. I have been close in the two Triple Crown events since becoming world champion – semis in the UK and final of the Masters. I am going on a great run.

‘I think the key is to keep doing the right things. After the Masters final, I had a day or two off and then straight back to the practice table, to work hard. That is what you have got to do to sort of bounce back and win these events.’

Wilson came close to adding the Masters title to his collection last month, losing to Shaun Murphy in the Alexandra Palace final, but before he had left the arena declared that he would ‘smash it’ in Germany.

It showed the ‘air of confidence’ that he is speaking of, and following through on the promise showed the ‘fear factor’ that he now feels he has.

‘It certainly stung but I stayed true to my word, I said I’d go and smash it in Berlin and two weeks later I’m here with the trophy,’ he said. ‘I’m a man of my word, I gave it my all and fought to the end and I’m coming away with the prize.

‘I think it’s important to keep grinding, keep going and the more you win, the more of a force you become and install that fear factor into people if you keep turning up and winning.’

With six ranking tournaments still to come this season Wilson will be hoping for plenty more winning to come, particularly when he returns to Sheffield in April.

The Warrior is already among a very small group of players who has stepped up in the immediate aftermath of their first world title, he can put himself in a group of one if he breaks the Crucible Curse and defends that title in May.