Wilson Claims Maiden Belfast Triumph
Crucible king Kyren Wilson is the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Champion for the first time, after thrashing old adversary and world number one Judd Trump 9-3 at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast.
A packed crowd of over 1,500 fans watched on for this clash between the top two players in the world rankings. However, the match turned out to be a more one-sided affair than many would have predicted.
The barnstorming victory for Wilson sees him capture the Alex Higgins Trophy and a top prize of £100,000. Having made the semis in the inaugural event back in 2016, the Warrior had failed to make it beyond the last 16 after that heading into this week.
It’s been a tremendous start to Wilson’s reign as World Champion. He’s already claimed silverware at the Xi’an Grand Prix, where he again defeated Trump in the final, this time by a 10-8 scoreline. His career total ranking title tally now stands at eight.
Wilson’s two tournament victory this season have seen him become only the sixth first time World Champion to win multiple titles in the next season. He follows in the footsteps of Trump, Stephen Hendry, John Parrott, John Higgins and Mark Selby.
Trump’s title defence here in Belfast ends a win shy of claiming what would have been a record extending fifth Northern Ireland Open crown. However, his relentless consistency in 2024 continues. The Ace in the Pack has made at least the quarter-finals of every event he’s entered this year. He still leads the head-to-head standings with Wilson 12-10.
It was a dominant afternoon of snooker from Wilson which set up this evening’s victory. He came into tonight leading 7-1 and needing just two more frames for the title.
When play got underway, Trump made his intentions clear early on as he adopted an all-out attack approach. A run of 64 gave him the opener to move within five.
Trump continued to go for his shots in the second frame of the night, but it still lasted 43-minutes before Wilson eventually won on the colours to move one from the finishing post at 8-2.
A sublime run of 143 from Trump equalled Mark Williams’ tournament high break to keep the contest alive, but a contribution of 119 from Wilson in the 12th frame got him over the line with a momentous 9-3 victory.
Wilson said: “It feels amazing. What a venue and what a crowd. They were a pleasure to play in front of. The juices were flowing and it was the icing on the cake to walk away with the trophy. It was a mouth watering match for the fans. On paper, it doesn’t get better than number one vs number two. Hopefully this is going to be a regular occurrence and we meet in many more finals, for many more years to come.”
Wilson added: “Winning a final is hard enough, let alone playing the world number one and most consistent player on the tour at the moment. To win quite comfortably is very flattering on myself. I have taken away the burden of backing up being World Champion. I’m proving it is no fluke.
“We all know Judd is capable of reeling frames off in a row. It was about doing the right things. I turned up an hour before this evening’s session when nobody would have blamed me for turning up ten minutes before thinking it was won. You can’t allow that to happen against Judd.”
Trump said: “I want to thank everyone for their support tonight. It was always going to be difficult to come back from 7-1 down, but I got an amazing reception. Kyren was too good today. The way he has bounced back after winning the World Championship is inspiring. I hope we can have many more battles.”
