Kyren Wilson on Judd Trump rivalry, ’embarrassing’ injury and Luca Brecel confusion

Kyren Wilson and Judd Trump will continue their growing rivalry in the semi-finals of the Masters on Saturday night after the world champion battled through a weird ankle injury to beat Luca Brecel.

Wilson beat the Belgian Bullet 6-4 on Friday evening, playing in trainers after managing to sprain his ankle during his sleep.

‘Agony. I was up at 5am, my ankle was throbbing,’ Wilson told Eurosport. ‘It was two nights ago after I played Zhang [Anda]. I was shattered.

‘In the hotel when they tuck the quilt into the mattress, I was just that tired I got in and fell asleep with my foot upright against the quilt and the pressure of that for 8 hours, I woke up and couldn’t walk!

‘It’s the worst story in the world to explain why you’ve got a bad ankle. It’s nothing cool. I fell asleep and woke up with a sprained ankle. It’s so embarrassing, but it’s the truth. I’ve hammered the Ibuprofen and Paracetamol all day.’

The Warrior was struggling with the pain but managed to knock in breaks of 71, 67, 64, 78 and 55 on his way to victory.

The world champion did so despite having an issue with the brand of chalk used by Brecel, which very few players now still opt for outside of the Belgian and Ronnie O’Sullivan.

‘Obviously I’m trying to deal with Luca’s chalk. That’s the main thing for me tonight and I’m so proud of myself that it didn’t let it affect me,’ he said.

‘When you’re twisting the ball with side spin with he old chalk there’s every possibility you’re going to get a kick and I’m thinking that on the shot. That’s what it does to you.

‘There’s so much chalk dust all in the cushions, all in the balls, there’s chalk trails all over the cloth. I just don’t understand it. I understand it from Ronnie’s point of view because it’s what he’s grown up with, he’s played with it forever.

‘Luca won the World Championship with the Taom, why not stick with what you won the World Championship with? If I was being a friend, because I love Luca he’s a great lad, I’d advise him to go back to how he won the World Championship because he had a few kicks that cost him a couple of frames. I just can’t get my head round it.’

Wilson meets Trump in the semis, the fourth time they will have played this season, with the Warrior winning the finals of the Xi’an Grand Prix and Northern Ireland Open and the Ace taking their UK Championship semi.

The world champion and world number one have been the two standout players this season and continue to build their growing rivalry on the table as Wilson tries to topple Trump as snooker’s supreme force.

‘It’s a really enjoyable match. It’s something I really get up for every single time,’ said Wilson. ‘I feel like we’re going to be in these positions for many years to come now. If you can’t enjoy it what’s the point?

‘He’s beat me in the UK and I’ve managed to beat him a couple of times in finals. Hopefully we manage to give the crowd value for money.’

After Trump beat Ding Junhui 6-3 in his semi-final, he said of Wilson: ‘We’ve already met a lot of times this season, it’s probably something that’s going to happen more and more over the next five or 10 years.

‘He’s a great player and it just shows the consistency of both of us. When we’re seeded where we normally are we both have to do well every single event and that’s what’s happening.

‘It’s a great match-up and I think for snooker and snooker fans it’s always good to have these sort of match-ups.’