Kyren Wilson Q&A

The talented Englishman looks ahead to the new season and insists his nappy-changing skills are on the rise…

Kyren, what have you been up to this summer?

My little boy Finley is five months old now so it has been great to spend some time at home with him and my girlfriend Sophie. I was away from home quite a bit over the first couple of months so now I’m making up for it. It is pretty tiring but now he’s sleeping through from 10pm to 4am, having a bottle and then sleeping again until 7am so it’s not too bad. I’m getting better at changing nappies – Sophie had to do it all for the first couple of months but now I’m learning. From the end of July onwards I’ll be away again so it will be tough, but that’s part of being a snooker player.

Are you looking forward to the new season?

Yes – I get bored when I’m not playing snooker. I did ok in the Australia qualifiers, winning two matches then losing to Ali Carter in the final round. I’m looking forward to Latvia now at the end of this month, especially as it’s such a beautiful place. Last season I started slowly, maybe I expected too much of myself. But in the second half of the season I was more relaxed and played a lot better. I got to the last 16 in India and the semi-finals of the Shoot-Out. In fact I should have got to the final of the Shoot-Out – I was around 30 points ahead of Michael White but didn’t focus properly and he came back to beat me. It was still great fun, it’s such an exciting tournament to play in. I was disappointed to lose my first qualifying match in the World Championship to Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon but he played very well and there wasn’t a lot I could do.

What are your ambitions this season?

Just to win as many matches as I can. You can climb and fall very quickly in the current system. I want to qualify for as many venues as possible because I love going to new places. I feel settled on the tour now and I fancy my chances. It’s great to play snooker for a living and have the chance to earn a lot of money from it.

You won our car racing day at Silverstone last year as well as the Shoot-Ker challenge at the Welsh Open. Are you a bit of a sporting all-rounder?

I always enjoyed PE at school and I was fairly good at most sports. I like the adrenaline that sport can give you, which is why I did a sky-dive when I was 18. I still play 11-a-side football for a team called the Wooden Rhinos every Saturday, whenever I’m not at a snooker event. It keeps me fit. The only injury I’ve had came during a 6-a-side game when I went in goal, tried to stop the ball and broke my thumb. I know there’s always a small risk of injury but you can’t live life worrying about that sort of thing. You can get injured any time – Ronnie O’Sullivan broke his ankle when he was out jogging.