Wilson Into Quarters With Dott Thrashing
Kyren Wilson will hope to send Judd Trump packing at the Betway UK Championship on Friday – while his wife Sophie is packing up boxes to move into their new home.
All Results
Free Live Scores App
The Wilson family are set to move into a new house in Kettering but Kyren will be preoccupied in Milton Keynes taking on the world number one in the quarter-finals. A 6-1 victory over Graeme Dott put Wilson into the last eight of this tournament for the second time.
His clash with Trump on Friday evening will be their seventh meeting this year, with the previous six shared three apiece. One of those matches was the final of the recent Championship League, Wilson coming out on top to win his fourth ranking title and first on UK soil. He hopes to achieve another career milestone this week by winning his first Triple Crown event.
World number four Wilson eased into a 4-0 lead over Dott tonight with top breaks of 89 and 69. Former World Champion Dott pulled one back and had chances in frame six, but had to watch Wilson convert a brilliant long double on the penultimate red which set up the chance to go 5-1 up. And an excellent break of 82 in the seventh frame saw Wilson over the line.
“To beat a player of Graeme ‘s class 6-1 is very pleasing,” said 28-year-old Wilson. “I know that when I get to quarter and semi-finals then Judd is going to be around and I expect to play him. It’s good to have the chance to take him out, to learn from him and eventually overtake him, that’s what I’m trying to do.
“In terms of snooker CVs he is well ahead of me. He has a lot of experience while I am still finding my feet at the top level. I have got a long way to go to match him. But our head to head record is quite even and we often have exciting matches.”
Asked about moving house, Wilson joked: “I have told my five-year-old son Finley that he has to help Sophie with the packing! It has given me a distraction this week and perhaps that helps take my mind off the tournament.
“We are moving to a bigger house and it makes me so proud to be able to provide a lovely life for my family, it makes all the sacrifices worthwhile. I remember being in Shanghai in 2015 when I won my first tournament, at the time Sophie went on a family holiday in Tenerife. She had 400 Euros which was all the money we had, and unfortunately she lost it when she got there. She called me crying her eyes out because she couldn’t even afford to buy nappies. Our lives have changed a lot since then.”
Lu Wins Chinese Derby
Lu Ning reached the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the third time in his career with a 6-2 win over fellow Chinese cueman Pang Junxu.
World number 40 Lu has been arguably the player of the tournament so far in terms of high scoring – the 26-year-old has made seven centuries and eight more breaks over 50.
The former world under-21 champion now faces Joe Perry, a crucial match for both players in the Race to the Masters. Perry could jump into the top 16 by winning that match while Lu needs to win the tournament to earn a Masters spot.
Breaks of 65, 56 and 57 helped Lu build a 5-1 lead tonight. Tour rookie Pang pulled one back with a 76 but Lu clinched the result in frame eight with a 123.
Quarter-Final Line-Up
Jack Lisowski v Zhou Yuelong
Mark Selby v Neil Robertson
Judd Trump v Kyren Wilson
Lu Ning v Joe Perry