Kyren Wilson doesn’t intend to linger on his British Open ‘moan up’ but would like to see ‘positive change’ after complaining about scheduling.
The world champion was not happy after his last 16 defeat to Elliot Slessor in Cheltenham last month, which was the second match of the evening session on table two.
This came after similar situations at the English Open and Saudi Arabia Masters, which resulted in frustrated social media posts.
‘Same s**t different day, demoted to table two again and get found out!’ Wilson wrote on Instagram. ‘What benefits does a world champion get nowadays?
‘Graveyard shift in Brentwood, table two in Saudi every game whilst being the number one seed there! Table two tonight in Cheltenham and being the highest ranked in the session…unfortunately nothing ever changes with the sport I love, if your face doesn’t fit…tough.’
He added on X: ‘People can have their opinions, Always been that you earn the right for the privileges. Apparently not anymore.
‘I always try to promote the sport & be a good ambassador for it, What’s the point?’
The Warrior says the frustrated posts may have come over a little stronger than intended and he is not quite so riled up about the situation as it may have appeared.
The world champ is less fussed about what table he plays on, but more the situation with roll-on-roll-off matches which leaves players unsure of when and where they will be playing, which was the case at the British Open.
‘I think it was a little bit of a build-up over a few tournaments, but I’m really not as bothered as people think,’ Wilson told . ‘I just want a little bit of change in the game where there’s a bit of transparency with the choices because then we all know where we stand.
‘I think it was the British Open where I had a bit of a moan up about it. It was roll-on-roll-off, where you’re scheduled for no earlier than 8pm, following the 7pm game.
‘Knowing I was the highest ranked player in the session I’ve gone back to my hotel room after I played Marco Fu on the TV table in the afternoon. I thought I’ll just follow whoever’s on table one from the hotel room so I can have a nap. I could then get ready based on how that table was going.
‘Then at 7.30pm I got a message from my brother to tell me I wasn’t following table one I was following table two, which was John Higgins against Rory Thor. Higgins romped that so I had to quickly jump in the shower, chuck my gear on and rush down to the venue.
‘That’s where my anger came from because I was a totally different player that night after playing good stuff against Marco. No disrespect to Elliot who beat me, he played some really good stuff, but I was really ill-prepared, it was a bit frantic. I think if there was a bit more clarity in the table choices then you can at least prepare yourself better.
‘It was me Mark Allen and Mark Selby that were discussing it because we were all in the same boat, we all didn’t know when we were on. Mark Selby said he felt embarrassed he was going on in front of me on table one in this session. I struggle with the roll-on-roll-off, I think they’re really hard to gear yourself up for because you don’t know how to prepare yourself.
‘I don’t really want it to linger over me though, I’m not as bothered as how it came across. I have had my fair share on the TV table. I’m really enjoying turning up to events and being made a fuss of all over the world since the World Championship, it has been lovely.’
With the earlier rounds of events including a lot of players over just a few days, the scheduling is tough on tournament organisers, while choices for TV tables can also be tricky and are not always based on a straight forward ‘highest ranked’ decision, but instead which match looks the most attractive for the viewers.
Wilson says his team have spoken to the powers-that-be about the situation and hopes for more clarity in future.
‘We’ve had a bit of a chat about it. My brother in particular has had a bit of a chat with certain people. We just wanted a bit of transparency,’ he said.
‘But I don’t want it it bog me down, I don’t want to be going to events and it be at the forefront of the conversation. I’ve expressed my feelings, people can do what they want with them, but I’m just after positive change, it’s not coming from a selfish point of view. We’ll see if anything changes.’
The 32-year-old admits that others seem to deal with the scheduling headaches better than he does, hailing world number one Judd Trump for how he gets on with things.
‘It is really tough, you’re not going to see the best snooker, but that’s when you’ve got to give credit to someone like Judd Trump,’ he said. ‘He’s been so dominant, wins so much, he still finds a way to win and just get on with those different scenarios.
‘As long as you get over those little hurdles, the better times come. I’ve just got to learn to deal with those hiccups.’
Despite the gripes about the scheduling, the world champ is anything but down, loving his experiences since conquering the Crucible in May.
‘It’s been mega,’ he said. ‘So many well-wishers, so many nice comments from people at events, I’m just enjoying it all. It’s been such an overwhelming lovely experience, people are still congratulating me, it’s really nice.
‘No one can ever take that title away from me, I’ll forever be known as a world champion, which is the most beautiful thing about it. There’s no other tournament like it.’
The Warrior has already claimed the Xi’an Grand Prix this season and heads to the Northern Ireland Open (starting Sunday) hoping to add more silverware to his collection.
‘Everything’s in place to win,’ he said. ‘I won’t go down without a fight in every game, even if I’m not quite there I always try my best to get through the match.
‘There’s been times this season where I’ve played flawless snooker, the first two rounds I was probably playing the best stuff in Wuhan [Open]. It took an eventual tournament winner [Xiao Guodong] to beat me 5-4 on the pink.
‘I’m really pleased where everything is, I’m settled in my mind, I feel like anywhere I go I’m going to compete and be there or there abouts. I’m really pleased with how things are going.’
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