FOR KYREN WILSON, it will go down as one of the worst defeats of his professional career.
His time as the defending champion of the Xi’an Grand Prix was brought to a shuddering, embarrassing halt today by Shaun Murphy in the last 16 of the 2025 tournament.
The Magician won 5-0, scoring 533 points in a row, with Wilson not potting a single ball in response.
Had a few extra balls gone in, then Murphy could have surpassed the world record of 556 unanswered points set by Ronnie O’Sullivan against Ricky Walden at the 2014 Masters.
There will not have been many times since he turned down pro 15 years ago that Wilson, one of the best players of his generation, will have sat in his chair for such long periods and failed to record a solitary point.
It was a result that sent shockwaves across the sport though Murphy, 43, should be commended for how well he played at Qujiang Sports Complex on Friday.
In truth, Wilson did not do much wrong, while Murphy “pretty much played as good as I have ever played, one of the best best-of-nine (frames) matches I’ve ever been a part of”.
Wilson, ten years younger than Murphy, is ranked second in the world behind Judd Trump but a lot of his money is the £500,000 he collected for being world snooker champion in May 2024 – and that dosh will come off next April.
On the one-year list, a true reflection of recent form, he is 16th with just £57,000 next to his name
There was a surprise 4-2 defeat to 19-year-old Stan Moody in the second round of the British Open last month in Cheltenham.
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Prior to that he was beaten by the same scoreline by Robbie Williams in his first match of the English Open in Brentwood.
And he also failed to make any inroads at the Wuhan Open where his campaign was stopped by Irishman Aaron Hill.
Three guys that Wilson would be expected to eliminate easily and with little fuss, particularly when his head is in the right space.
Apart from winning the Shanghai Masters in early August, which added £210,000 to his bank balance but carried no ranking points, it has been a “torrid” start to the season.
Potential burnout is one issue – last year, as the reigning world champion, he entered pretty much every event, which is commendable, as he wanted to be a good ambassador for the sport.
Yet it came at a cost and come the 2025 World Championship, he became another victim of the Crucible Curse, losing to debutant Lei Peifan on day one, as he was cooked.
There is more strength-in-depth in the sport these days and the top players, as Trump is finding out, can be humbled if they are not fully focused on their next opponent.
It highlights just how well the Class of 92 have done – O’Sullivan, John Higgins and Mark Williams – to still be this competitive while entering their sixth decades.
Wilson is an honest bloke and will not sugarcoat this with his brother Taylor when they analyse what they can do to get him out of this current slump.
After the Murphy loss, Taylor said: “Credit where credit is due. That was snooker from the gods. That form deserves trophies.”
A proud family man, the father-of-two has had issues back home in Kettering which have understandably meant he has taken his eye off the snooker ball.
Only a few days ago he revealed that his wife Sophie had had surgery in the UK while he was playing in China.
Though he has not used this as an excuse for his poor form, the trouble at home has coincided with his worst start to a campaign for years.
Wilson – who had been eating this week at a Xi’an barbeque restaurant called Sophie in the hope of bringing himself some good luck – said: “I’ve had a bit of a torrid time off the table.
“My wife’s been very poorly. I’ve not really played snooker for the best part of four or five weeks now.
“She’s coming up to six weeks of recovery this week.
“My snooker, I feel like it’s slowly coming back. I’ve started to put a bit more time in. I can focus a bit more on my game.
“As a result, hopefully you’ll start seeing the results that you’ve been used to.
“She’s all good now. She was in for surgery whilst I was playing in Wuhan. So it was a last-minute decision to come out to China.
“It kind of did my head in a little bit. It’s not nice knowing that someone’s going to be on an operating table whilst you’re hitting snooker balls around.
“But those are the sort of sacrifices that me and my family are willing to make to be successful at this game.
“Sometimes you’ve got to make sure your head’s clear. Thankfully now I feel like I’m getting there.”
Wilson is known as the Warrior and during these difficult moments, when nothing seems to be going his way, when he needs to be there for his loved ones, he will need to rely on those fighting qualities more than ever before.
