Kyren Wilson built on his World Championship success with a 10-8 final victory over Judd Trump to win the new Xi’an Grand Prix in China.
Full of self belief following his Crucible glory in May, Wilson beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday before a hard-fought win over world number one Trump to land the trophy and £177,000 top prize.
A fiercely contested final never had more than one frame between the two players, until Kettering’s 32-year-old Wilson came from 8-7 down to take the last three frames. In the home of the famous Terracotta Army, snooker’s Warrior was the last man standing.
Wilson’s tally of seven career ranking titles puts him ahead of Ken Doherty, Stuart Bingham, Stephen Maguire and Ali Carter on the all-time list. It’s his second ranking crown in China, having won his maiden title at the 2015 Shanghai Masters.
Not every World Champion thrives under the spotlight and added expectation; 2023 king Luca Brecel struggled for results for most of last season. But Wilson has risen to that challenge very early in the campaign, and will go into the forthcoming Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters with sky-high confidence.
Trump missed out on a 29th ranking title, which would have taken him above Steve Davis into fourth place on his own on the all-time list. Having won last month’s Shanghai Masters, he came close to a perfect start to the season, but today’s result ends a ten-match unbeaten streak. The 35-year-old has the consolation of taking over from Mark Allen at the top of the world rankings having banked £76,000.
Trailing 5-4 after the opening session, Trump took three of the first four frames today with top breaks of 53 and 66 to go 7-6 ahead. Wilson levelled before Trump’s 104 edged him ahead again. A run of 54 helped Wilson make it 8-8.
Trump looked set to pinch frame 17 from 49-1 behind until a routine positional shot from black to last red went awry. He later lost a tactical exchange on the yellow, handing Wilson the chance to take the lead.
An early chance for Wilson in the 18th yielded just 22, but Trump’s weak safety left him among the balls again and he added 89 to clinch victory.
“I tried to stay as resilient as possible,” said Wilson. “Neither of us played our best but it was great to be a part of the final in front of a packed house. Having lost 6-0 to Zhou Yuelong in Shanghai, I am so glad to have come here and proved why I am World Champion. I just kept pushing and trying to get over the line first.
“I know I need to start challenging and lifting more of these trophies because Judd is a long way ahead of me in terms of ranking titles. When I get the chance to beat him in a final I have to make it count.
“Since the World Championship I have been trying to search for that high,” added Wilson, who admitted he needed a bigger waistcoat this week having celebrated to excess during the summer. “I’ve gone a bit off the rails because I was searching for the wrong high. Now I am more focussed on the big tournaments because there is so much on offer. I had dreamed of being World Champion since I was six. I have reaced the pinnacle but I’m still young and I have a lot more to give.
“I’m heading to Dubai now for a holiday with the family. Before I came here I told my kids I was going to make them proud this week.”
Trump said: “I made too many mistakes. I had a chance at 8-8. I didn’t play well in the whole tournament. I was happy to make a fight of it today, but I lost all the close frames.“
The two pictures above were shared on twitter by Kyren’s management.
I enjoyed the final and I’m happy for Kyren who was one of the first players I got to know at the South West Snooker Academy. He was always nice with everyone and it was obvious that he’s a devoted husband and father. He’s not the most talented player on tour – although ALL players who make it to the pro tour and manage to make a career as professionals are extremely talented – but Kyren is certainly amongst the “very hard workers” out there. He’s also someone who takes his duties very seriously and I was certain that he would do everything to be a great “World Champion” and a fantastic ambassador for his sport.
Neither finalist was at their best but they both produced a lot of very good snooker, they both give it their all and the match was played in great sporting spirit. It was close and tense all along. Thank you Kyren and Judd.
Now some personal reflections / reactions to what happened on social media this week …
A former pro came on Twitter (yeah… X) today saying the Ronnie is a spent force, that he hasn’t “got the desire” anymore and is happy to do his little exhibitions. Whilst I do see that Ronnie isn’t the absolute force he was, he has still won his fair share of titles last season and reached the semi-finals in both knock-out events he played in this season so far, both times going out to the eventual champion. Not too bad for a 48 years old playing in his 33d season… AND if the guy watched Ronnie’s match yesterday, I’m curious how he reconciles his opinion about Ronnie’s lack of desire with Ronnie’s obvious frustration at his own poor performance. That makes no sense.
Very few were giving Kyren a chance ahead of the final. Kyren somehow played “under the radars” until last May. Somehow he’s been in the shadow of Judd Trump, Jack Lisowski and, to an extend, Mark Allen, although Mark is a bit “older”. Judd and Mark, of course have been winning loads. But Jack? The thing is Kyren isn’t “flamboyant”, he’s very skilful1 but rarely spectacular. What he does will be appreciated by the true fans of the sport but maybe not so much by the casual spectator.
Some of the shots he played today were awesome and duly appreciated by the commentators, Fergal O’Brien and Steven Hallworth … both have been excellent all week BTW. ↩︎
3 thoughts on “Kyren Wilson is the 2024 Xi’an Grand Prix Champion”
Playing every round of the tournament, Judd missed the opportunity this week to get closer to Higgins regarding the 1000th centuries. I’m not sure it bothers him too much, but in my eyes it would be an extremely prestigious thing to be named the player after ROS to make that milestone.
Yes, he didn’t score as heavily as usual and the same is true for the other big scorers in this tournament. Maybe the conditions didn’t help.
Yes, the table conditions were problematic, which certainly affected the standard, particularly breakbuilding. The cloth they were using was one designed for the atmospheric conditions in Xi’an at this time of year. Kyren Wilson missed some shots with the rest with the rest-head actually moving. That’s uncharacteristic for him, and a clear indication of unfamiliar conditions.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Playing every round of the tournament, Judd missed the opportunity this week to get closer to Higgins regarding the 1000th centuries. I’m not sure it bothers him too much, but in my eyes it would be an extremely prestigious thing to be named the player after ROS to make that milestone.
Yes, he didn’t score as heavily as usual and the same is true for the other big scorers in this tournament. Maybe the conditions didn’t help.
Yes, the table conditions were problematic, which certainly affected the standard, particularly breakbuilding. The cloth they were using was one designed for the atmospheric conditions in Xi’an at this time of year. Kyren Wilson missed some shots with the rest with the rest-head actually moving. That’s uncharacteristic for him, and a clear indication of unfamiliar conditions.