Snooker star Kyren Wilson says his ‘World Champion aura’ is getting in rivals’ heads

Snooker world champion Kyren Wilson credited his new found confidence as being the key to his career-best form following his triumph at The Crucible last year

Kyren Wilson has credited his form to his new found aura after becoming snooker world champion.

‘The Warrior’ lifted the World Championship last May and has shot to No.2 in the world rankings. Wilson pocketed the £500,000 winners prize money and his game has continued to progress, with him consistently going toe-to-toe with the sport’s elite tactical players.

Speaking to SportsBoom, Wilson opened up about his fresh confidence he gained from becoming world champion and how he has taken that into the current season.

“I still feel like the same sort of player just with a lot more confidence. Obviously, when you are carrying that confidence, you can kind of transfer it onto the table and you can almost transfer it into your opponent’s minds,” he said.

“I feel like I’ve done that a lot this season. If you sort of cower away in these big events against these top players, they’ll eat you alive. I’m pleased with the way I managed to handle it.”

Wilson also spoke about the reputation that comes with holding the title of world champion, adding that while he doesn’t believe he has a fear factor over players like Mark Allen, he feels the achievement has added another dimension to his game.

“I feel like Mark Allen’s too long in the tooth to have that bother him, you know, he would just have been focusing on his own game. But for me in particular, it’s definitely added that aura of confidence and definitely brought another level to my game.”

Following his World Championship triumph, Wilson reached the semi-final of the UK Championship, and finished runner-up to Shaun Murphy in the Masters. Wilson added the German Masters title to his ranking triumphs last month.