World Champion Kyren Wilson mounted a superb comeback to rally from 4-1 down and beat Neil Robertson 6-5 to make the Sportsbet.io Players Championship final in Telford.
The Warrior will now appear in his fourth title match of the campaign and the 18th ranking final of his career. He’s already captured silverware this season at the Xi’an Grand Prix, BetVictor Northern Ireland Open and the Machineseeker German Masters.
It’s been an incredible first season as World Champion for Wilson. The Kettering cueman has already amassed £541,800 in ranking events, which has seen him assume second position on the Johnstone’s Paint One-year List behind Judd Trump. He will now face either Trump or John Higgins in Sunday's final, where he will be aiming to win his tenth ranking crown.
Robertson’s hopes of becoming the first ever player to win all three Players Series events in a single season come to an end. However, his performances in the first two tournaments have seen him secure qualification for the World Championship.
As a result of winning the World Grand Prix in Hong Kong and making the semis this week in Telford, the Australian will rise to ninth in the world rankings.
Robertson got off to a flying start this evening, crafting breaks of 100, 83 and 73 on his way to establishing a 4-1 advantage. Wilson replied with runs of 116 and 57, as he claimed three on the bounce to restore parity at 4-4.
Frame nine brought huge drama. Trailing by 43, Wilson fired in a brilliant clearance of 43 to force a respotted black. However, his safety attempt on the extra ball sent the white into the right middle to hand the frame to Robertson.
World number two Wilson refused to back down and a brilliant break of 89 took the match all the way, setting up a final frame decider. Robertson then left a red to the middle from his break off, Wilson deposited it and made a brilliant total clearance of 134 to emerge a 6-5 victor.
“It is great to make a final of one of these tournaments. The field this week has been so strong. Of the eight quarter-finalists, seven were World Champions. That just shows the standard. I’m so proud that I’ve managed to get to the final,” said 33-year-old Wilson.
“I feel like I dominated most of the matches with Mark Allen and Mark Williams in the first two rounds. They are both great players. I just got off to a slow start against Neil and allowed him to get into his stride.
“When he is hitting the ball the way he can do it is a daunting prospect. At 4-1 down I’m proud of the way I came back. Despite losing that sickener of a frame to go 5-4 down, I’ve come back again and had two one visit frames. It is very pleasing.”
