One of snooker’s top players has cited two of the game’s all-time greats when justifying how he’s able to continue in the sport without enjoying it. Gary Wilson, a 2019 World Championship semi-finalist currently 16th in the rankings, and has now won back-to-back Scottish Open titles after beating Noppon Saengkham in the latest final in December.
Those two triumphs represent the only ranking titles of his career, but his success at Meadowbank has done little for his morale. And amid a mixed season, he’s currently working without a coach – a notion that he seemingly favours.
Nobody can feel what you feel,” he told Metro. “It can look great and feel awful. People have told me I’m playing great (after his Scottish Open win), but I didn’t feel like that at all.
It’s like the Stephen Hendry story, his last 147 at the Crucible, he said he played six good shots, the rest were awful. Ronnie says it as well, steering balls in, twitch one in there, snatch another one in, but he looks brilliant.
O’Sullivan in particular has consistently told reporters that he struggles to take pleasure from snooker, and has made frequent threats to retire throughout his iconic career. That persona has remained in this campaign, despite the ‘Rocket’ being on the brink of an historic treble of Triple Crown events in 2023/24 having already captured the Masters and UK Championship.
“I don’t think you can’t let somebody in like that, they’ll tell you one thing and you’ll feel another,” continued Wilson. “Sometimes you’re hitting them so good, but they’re just not quite going where you want them to go, it doesn’t look like you’re playing well, but you feel brilliant. It’s a strange game.
The p’ turned professional in 2013, and at 38, still seemingly has many years ahead of him at the top level. However, he claims his psychological struggles with the sport delve back to when he was a teenager setting about on his journey towards turning professional.
“I think I’ve been frustrated with the game for 20-odd years,” he said. “I’m thankful in that way that I’ve been frustrated for such a large part of my career and I’ve still had a career. I am thankful for that.”
Wilson’s latest showing saw him beaten in four of his six matches at the World Championship League this week. He lost his two concluding matches, against Neil Robertson and John Higgins, without getting a frame on the board, going down 3-0 both times.
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