The Press Stories
In 1977, snooker’s UK Championship was contested for the first time.
It immediately earned the status of a major, and thus the sport’s ‘Triple Crown’ of the most prestigious events – which also includes The Masters and the World Championship – was born.
Only eleven players have completed the Triple Crown; such is the challenge of winning the three toughest tournaments on the schedule.
But reigning world champion Kyren Wilson is 33.3% of the way there… and he has found form at just the right time ahead of the 2024 edition of the UK Championship.
Purple Patch
Winning the Northern Ireland Open in October – more on that shortly – has seen Wilson’s chance of prevailing at York’s Barbican Centre increase exponentially.
Those placing a UK Championship snooker bet could have availed themselves of odds of +1600 before the event in Belfast; now, Wilson has been trimmed to +1100 for glory instead.
Those snooker odds are still dominated by the likes of +350 co-favorites Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan, with British Open champion Mark Selby in at +700.
But timing is everything in sport, and with his win in Northern Ireland, Wilson displayed the precision that also saw him crowned world champion back in May.
He defeated the likes of former World Championship semi-finalist Anthony McGill, and proud Triple Crown club member Mark Williams, on his way to setting up a final with the current world number one, Judd Trump.
Northern Ireland Open champion, Kyren Wilson, is looking forward to a new rivalry with Judd Trump on the World Snooker Tour 🆕⚔️#NIOpen pic.twitter.com/tizPCrdguY
— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 28, 2024
Wilson romped into a 7-1 lead in the race to nine frames, so complacency was likely to be the 32-year-old’s biggest threat in the evening session. But his fans needn’t have worried, as their man wrapped up a surprisingly comfortable 9-3 victory.
Three is the Magic Number
Having previously reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship, as well as the final of the 2018 Masters, Wilson is very much knocking on the door of the Triple Crown.
That exclusive club already features his contemporary, Trump, as well as a host of players that, while still playing, have been around the professional ranks for decades: O’Sullivan, Selby, and Williams to name a few.
𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗜𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡 🏆
Judd Trump has won the 2023 @CazooUK Masters, beating Mark Williams 10-8 in the final!
The Ace in the Pack picks up his first Triple Crown title for three years and £250,000 👏 #CazooMasters pic.twitter.com/gqBamU5tKL
— WST (@WeAreWST) January 15, 2023
But only three men – Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry, and Williams – have held all three of the Triple Crown titles at the same time… a feat Wilson can go some way to emulating with victory at the UK Championship in November.
It won’t be easy coming through the 144-player tournament, but if he can, Wilson will have one eye on a slice of unique snooker heritage.
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