Who is Kyren Wilson? The snooker star edging closer to ending major title drought

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Kyren Wilson has the opportunity to reach the end stages of the World Championship, which could assist in fulfilling his potential. Despite being regarded as a potential candidate for a major title for a long time, this may finally be the moment for him to prove himself.

The 32-year-old hails from Kettering and began his professional snooker career in 2010. He quickly proved himself to be a promising young talent in the sport. Despite experiencing a period of poor performance, he managed to regain his place on the World Tour and returned to the upper echelons of snooker in 2013.

Wilson had a quick impact and gained recognition as a player who had the ability to defeat anyone on a good day. He improved his game and became more consistent, which allowed him to compete at the top level. In 2015, his efforts paid off as he impressed at the Shanghai Masters. He advanced through the qualifying rounds and shocked Judd Trump in the final to claim his first ranking title.

Wilson started the competition outside of the top 50 players in the world rankings, making him the unlikely winner of a ranking event in over 10 years. Making it to the quarter-finals of the 2016 World Championship further demonstrated his progress as a player.

In 2018, Wilson made it to the final of The Masters for the second time, which seemed like proof that he was becoming one of the best snooker players. However, he lost 10-7 to Mark Allen at Alexandra Palace, which was disappointing for him. Wilson felt like he didn't try hard enough and gave Allen too many chances to score points. He was upset and cried after the match, realizing that he made it too easy for Allen who is a very skilled player. Allen took advantage of Wilson's mistakes and won the game.

Although he has won five ranking events and has a place in the top 20 of snooker's all-time winners, there are doubts about how he performs in important matches, which could be why he hasn't won a Triple Crown title yet. Wilson, also known as 'The Warrior', has made it to the quarter-finals of either The Masters, UK Championship or World Championship 14 times, but has only been in two finals. When playing against top players, he usually finds it difficult.

In 2020, Wilson played a fantastic quarter-final match against Judd Trump at the World Championship, which was postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak. This win showed that Wilson's future was bright. He also won a semi-final match against Anthony McGill in a thrilling deciding frame. However, he couldn't keep up with Ronnie O'Sullivan, who played an outstanding game and won his sixth world title.

Could Wilson finally make a breakthrough in 2024? This year has been unusual for the father-of-two. Although he has scored many points in some games, he has not been able to progress far in a tournament. Wilson has made 65 centuries this season, which is an impressive amount, only beaten by Trump's 79. However, he has not even made it to the finals.

The Crucible presents a chance to achieve success. Surprisingly, Wilson, who is ranked 12th in the world, is now the highest-ranked player left as all the top-seeded players have been eliminated. He is likely to recognize this as his chance to shine.

In 2018, Wilson spoke to BBC Sport and stated that he became a professional snooker player because he wanted to succeed in the sport. Merely making it to the semi-finals or finals of major events was not enough for him. He wanted to achieve more, so that his two sons could one day say that their father was an exceptional snooker player. To be respected in the snooker world, he knew he needed to do better than just making it to the later stages of tournaments.