Gary Wilson has been living life on the edge so far this season, losing a deciding frame to Pang Junxu at the Shanghai Masters and winning qualifiers for the Xi'an Grand Prix and the Wuhan Open on the final black.
The Wallsend cueman enjoyed his most successful season as a professional last term, but is battling to hit top gear this term. With a huge couple of months ahead, including two trips to China and the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, we caught up with Wilson to find out how he's feeling...
Gary, first of all well done at last week's qualifying. We know you still aren't happy with where your game is at, how far away do you feel you are from where you need to be?
“It is pleasing just to get through these China qualifiers. It wasn’t good viewing at all I must say. It was a case of scraping through in deciders, on the black each time. It wasn’t pretty at all, but I was just happy to get through those two games as they were very important ones. Overall I have to accept that I have the results on the board. I hope I can work over the next few weeks and get my game into a decent position. So far that hasn’t been the case at all.
“I’m chopping and changing things a bit too much at the moment. I know a lot of players will be more accepting of their game at this stage of the season, but I find it difficult to do that. I’ve analysed it over months and I’m not happy with what is going on in my game. I need to get back to the point where I am acceptant of where my game is. I was at that place at the end of last year, but all of a sudden the wheels came off. It felt like going back to square one. It can’t be far away. Hopefully it will come."
Having been a professional for the last 20 years, it was only two seasons ago that you won your maiden ranking event at the Scottish Open. Since then you have defended that title and won the Welsh Open. What do you think clicked to give you the winning feeling?
“I’ve not honestly felt that anything has switched. It wasn’t like it was a lightbulb moment. There honestly isn’t anything that I’ve done differently. I don’t know how three wins have come along in a relatively short period of time. When I try to work this all out it is probably a combination of lots of littler things. That bit of extra experience at the latter end of tournaments. Once you have been there half a dozen times in those situations, you all of a sudden feel more comfortable. I think the extra knowledge and in some ways the law of averages came through. I knew deep down I was good enough so perhaps it was a matter of time. I’ve had times where a ridiculous shot has cost me, over a period of time those silly things have gone my way. It is such small things and such fine margins."
Why do you think some sportspeople manage to get the winning knack earlier in their careers?
“Half of it is because the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan or Luke Littler have ridiculous talent, the other half is that they can handle the pressure. Everyone else can handle the pressure but it maybe takes more experience to do it. You can’t just bully your way through a field. It is frustrating that I’ve taken so long to get there and then the last few months haven’t panned out as I would have wished. I need to find my game and get it back up to scratch. I do know deep down though that having started winning it is there and I have the opportunity now to push on and try to win another bigger tournament."
On the way to winning the Welsh Open, you made a 147 against John Higgins in the semi-finals. How special was that moment to you and your career?
“It was amazing to do that in the latter stages of a big event and against someone like him. It was the first one I’ve had on a major occasion. To then go on and win the game and then the final after that was very pleasing. It is an achievement and a moment which I will always remember. Out of the three tournaments I’ve won that was the most pleasing. I was comfortable, at ease and content. It was a great feeling to win that event."
There was a similarly dramatic moment in the semis at last season's Scottish Open, where you came from needing three snookers in the decider against Zhou Yuelong to win 6-5. Were you always going to play on or did you consider conceding?
“You play hundreds of games in your career in tournaments. Crazy things can happen which cause you to lose games. Every now and again you have to battle for three snookers and it might go your way. In that moment I just felt it might be time for it. I was so relieved to get through to a final from nowhere. I had a bit of an outpouring and a celebration afterwards. It is only one or two times that will go your way in a career. I felt after that I was very determined to make it count and win the tournament. I had to make sure I won and I did."
How determined are you to get your game into shape for an important few months ahead?
“You don’t want to let these chances pass you by. I am grateful to have won the qualifiers. The rewards are there for other tournaments, like Saudi Arabia, for being in the top 16. I need to start competing better and take advantage. It is huge to have a tournament like the upcoming event in Saudi. We want to get the tour more global and this one is for huge money. I still enjoy the travelling side of being a professional and I’ll look forward to getting to a few places over the next couple of months.
“I want to embrace it all. After something like Covid happening, you never know when travelling to these places might be your last time. That is why I took my mum and dad out to Shanghai, so they could experience it all and see what it is all about. You need to enjoy the travelling element of it. The difference is that when you are doing it for your job you can go to places you wouldn’t travel to otherwise."