Kyren Wilson admits he has celebrated his World Championship victory so much that he needed a new waistcoat, but he's now getting back into shape and continued his progress at the Xi'an Grand Prix with a 5-2 win over He Guoqiang to reach the last 32.
After a slow start to the season, failing to progress beyond his group in the Championship League then losing 6-0 to Zhou Yuelong at the Shanghai Masters, Wilson now looks to be finding his feet. He took a 2-1 lead today with a break of 72, then China's He replied with a 101 for 2-2. The turning point came in frame five when He, last season's Rookie of the Year, made 54 only for Wilson to reply with a 69 clearance. The Kettering ace added the next two frames to wrap up victory.
"As World Champion, people expect you to win all the time," said the 32-year-old. "After I lost in Shanghai I went back home to my local town and people were asking 'what happened?' It doesn't work like that, the standard on tour is so high. I don't feel that I have to win titles this season to prove myself. I'll keep doing the things I always do, working hard and preparing properly for events.
"I have had some amazing experiences over the last few months, some of which I'll remember for a lifetime, like taking the trophy to Stamford Bridge and to Great Ormond Street Hospital, and joining the Aston Martin F1 team at the British Grand Prix. I've also had to get a new waistcoat made having drunk far too much beer! I just wanted to enjoy the summer because it was such a buzz to win my first world title, for all of my family and friends.
Performance of the day came from Shaun Murphy as he smashed Jamie Clarke 5-0 in 55 minutes with breaks of 103, 76, 100, 84 and 128.
"I need to make some inroads after what was terrible season last year," said Murphy, who was runner-up at last month's Shanghai Masters. "The end of season provisional list is bleak reading for me at the moment and I don't want to have to go to the qualifiers for the World Championship. If I play like that, I might be ok. With this one and then the tournament in Saudi we have two huge money events and there will be a lot of movement in the rankings."
Ronnie O'Sullivan booked his last 32 place with a 5-2 win over tour rookie Bulcsu Revesz. After losing the opening frame, O'Sullivan hit back to take five of the next six with runs of 78, 82, 57 and 65.
Mark Selby strolled to a 5-0 success over Aaron Hill with top breaks of 115 and 113, while world number one Mark Allen top scored with 131 as he beat David Lilley 5-1.
Neil Robertson needs a much improved season to get back into the top 16, but suffered a 5-2 reverse against Yuan Sijun.
Former World Champion Graeme Dott scored a fine 5-2 win over Zhang Anda with a top break of 102. Alfie Burden couldn't build on last night's win over Ding Junhui, as he lost 5-4 to Xu Si having let slip a 4-2 lead.