Ronnie O’Sullivan fears Kyren Wilson crossed ‘very fine line’ that sparked World Snooker Championship exit
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN reckons Kyren Wilson fell victim to the Crucible Curse due to BURNOUT.
Late on Saturday night, the Warrior’s world championship reign was unexpectedly ended 10-9 by debutant and qualifier Lei Peifan.
Wilson, 33, is the 20th person to have lifted the world title for the first time in Sheffield and then failed to retain the trophy 12 months later.
The world No.2 won four ranking titles in an excellent season and admirably he took little breaks as he wanted to be the “best ambassador possible” for the sport.
But the Rocket, 49, reckons Wilson should have cut back on his playing schedule and skipped a few events.
O’Sullivan was struck down by the Curse in the 2002 semi-finals, going down to Stephen Hendry, the year after his first of seven triumphs.
The former world No.1 said: “I think Kyren played in too many tournaments, which he didn’t need to play in.
“If you look at the last two winners of the world championship, himself and Luca Brecel, they both came in very fresh.
“To win this world championship, you need to come in, okay doing well, but at some point around February, say to yourself: ‘Right, it’s ALL about the world championship.’
“One minute he’s in Leicester playing for 7-8 days. I was like: ‘You want to be chilling out and just put your cue down.’
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“It’s a very fine line and when you come here, you want to have a spring in your step. Play your way into form.
“Rather than be really at your limit. It’ll go the other way. With Kyren, he could have maybe missed a few tournaments.
“This is the one you want to win. I always think, come in a bit undercooked, take a month off playing.
“For this tournament, you need to be feeling strong come the quarters and semis. To me, I think he has played too much match snooker.”
Wilson – who played 82 matches in the 2024-25 season – will decide in the next day whether to return to the scene of his exit or drown his sorrows on holiday.
The father-of-two, 33, is unsure if he will work for BBC TV during the remainder of the event or go home and spend time with his family.
If he does work for the Beeb then he might have an awkward meeting with Shaun Murphy in the bowels of the Crucible.
The pair are engaged in a war of words over a mystery incident that happened backstage in practice before the final session of the 2025 Masters final.
Wilson, who jokingly smashed a mirror in the build-up to try to curb any potential back luck, sighed: “I cannot think of anything worse than snooker right now!
“I’m not sure what I will do. It has been an incredibly long season. I have really missed my family this year, it has been really tough at times.
“I love this sport, I love the game. I have tried to be the best ambassador possible. But now it’s trying to fit in a bit of quality family time.
“I’m meant to be working for the BBC! I don’t know. I don’t really want to be there.
“This is extremely tough to take. It really hurts. I’ve such a strong record at the Crucible. I’m tough to beat here.
“I’m sure the Curse will be broken at some point. Unfortunately I won’t be that person.
“I certainly had the Snooker Gods against me. Maybe I have to put that mirror I smashed back together.”
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins