Kyren Wilson and David Gilbert enjoy commanding opening wins at The Masters

Jamie Shaw in The Masters 10 January 2021

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Kyren Wilson and David Gilbert set up a Quarter-Final clash at The 2021 Masters after comfortably dispatching Gary Wilson and Joe Perry 6-2 respectively.

World finalist Wilson had been due to face Jack Lisowski in the opening match of the tournament, but a positive Covid test for ‘Jackpot’ meant that Gary Wilson was drafted in as a replacement.

Gilbert was initially drawn to face Judd Trump, but a positive Covid test for the world number one also ruled him out, handing Perry an unexpected late call-up.

Sixth seed Wilson, who was runner-up to Mark Allen at Ally Pally in 2018, reeled off five consecutive frames from 2-1 down to deny his namesake.

The Kettering cueist took the opening frame of the tournament with a break of 83 before ‘The Tyneside Terror’ struck back with a break of 85 to level and edged frame three to move in front.

Kyren, though, responded superbly with a break of 108 for two apiece, and after taking frame five after the interval, he overturned a 51 break from the former Crucible semi-finalist to move 4-2 up.

The 29-year-old continued the one-way traffic with a majestic clearance of 136 and rounded off victory with a 65 break in the following frame.

“When you win a couple of frames in one visit, it just settles you down,” said Kyren Wilson.

“You mentally prepare for another opponent and have a few weeks to visualise who you are going to play and it doesn’t give you much time to prepare for another one.”

Wilson will take on Gilbert in the opening Quarter-Final at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes on Thursday after the Tamworth ace saw off Perry by the same scoreline.

2017 Betfred Masters runner-up Perry was far below his best for much of the contest and the damage was done early on as Gilbert raced into a 5-0 lead.

The Cambridge cueist eventually found his range and rallied back to win successive frames, but Gilbert safely closed out the win.

“I’ve been bang out of form so it felt a lot better out there,” admitted Gilbert.

“When Boris Johnson was doing his announcement [on covid restrictions], I was hoping they locked the whole thing down and closed sport off and everything.

“I was ready to go in my garage and grab a couple of beers and get drunk.

“I knew I had Judd, so as much as I was looking forward to it, I couldn’t see past him to be honest but it has turned out all right for me now.”

A break of 58 was enough for Gilbert to seal the opening frame, before defying a 56 break from Perry in the second to double his lead.

Consecutive breaks of 60, 62 and 71 saw the former World Championship semi-finalist make it 5-0, before Perry averted the whitewash with a well-taken break of 73.

Perry then produced a terrific clearance of 108 to continue his fightback, but that was as good as it got for ‘The Gentleman’ as Gilbert got over the line thanks to a break of 54.

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