Emotional Kyren Wilson says family 'sacrificed their whole lives' for Crucible win
Kyren Wilson celebrated with his family after his crowning achievement (Picture: Getty Images)
Kyren Wilson was in tears after winning his first World Snooker Championship title on Monday night, paying tribute to his family who have ‘sacrificed their whole lives’ for his success.
The Warrior fought his way to an 18-14 victory over Jak Jones at the Crucible, opening up an early 7-0 lead before holding off a spirited fightback from the Welshman.
Things got very edgy late on but the Englishman got over the line, with a roar and a fist pump to the crowd as he made it to the snooker’s required stage.
After shaking hands with Jones, Wilson’s brother, sons and wife all joined him on the arena floor in emotional scenes as the tears flowed from the family.
The newly-crowned world champion apologised to his opponent for the celebration, but put it down to the sacrifice of his family hitting home to him after winning the match.
‘Firstly I’d like to say sorry to Jak for that outburst but it just means so much to all of us,’ said Wilson.
‘My mum and dad, they’ve remortgaged, sacrificed their whole lives to get me here. My brother has, my wife Soph, Barry, Carla, Chris, Peter, the list goes on and on and on. It’s a massive team effort.
Wilson let the tears flow after the huge win (Picture: Getty Images)
‘On YouTube one of the worst things for me to see is me crying with Jason Mohammad at the Masters and this is going to be even worse. I said I’d never do it again but I just can’t help it!’
Wilson paid tribute to Jones, the world number 44 who came through qualifying and stunned the likes of Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham to make the final.
‘He was so tough,’ said Wilson of the 30-year-old. ‘I don’t know if there are any people left in Wales the amount they were cheering for him. They made it a fantastic atmosphere, so all credit to those guys.
‘Me and Jak have come through some junior ranks, we had many practice matches. This is Jak’s first final, let alone a world final so he;s conducted himself in an amazing fashion and I’m sure he’ll be back.’
Kyren and Taylor Wilson embrace after the Crucible glory (Picture: Getty Images)
Wilson may have paid tribute to his family but isn’t sure he is even his children’s favourite sportsman, although that may have now changed.
‘I’m trying so hard to inspire a younger generation, hopefully I’m inspiring my kids,’ he said. ‘They did an interview this week and someone asked them who their sporting idol is, they said Ronaldo, so hopefully I’ve overtaken him now.’
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