Wounded Wilson overcomes ankle injury to beat Brecel at Masters

Kyren Wilson battled through an ankle injury to beat Luca Brecel 6-4 on Friday and book his place in the Masters semi-finals.

The Warrior came through an epic battle of the last two World champions at Alexandra Palace, where he will play world number one Judd Trump in a blockbuster semi-final.

However, Wilson’s participation was under serious threat after suffering a bizarre ankle injury overnight while sleeping.

“I could make up a story and make it really extravagant, but I literally fell asleep in my bed,” he told BBC Sport after his victory. “They tuck the quilt into the mattress. My foot landed in an awkward position for eight hours, and I woke up and I couldn’t move.

“It’s not even like I was being chased by the police! I just fell asleep in bed and sprained my ankle.”

Though sporting a pair of trainers and moving gingerly around the table, the injury did not appear to affect the performance of Wilson, who hit breaks of 71, 67 and 64 to take a 3-1 lead.

Brecel, who had a 96 in frame three, responded after the interval with contributions of 84 and 83 sandwiching a 78 from his opponent to reduce the deficit to 4-3 in what was a high-quality one-visit encounter.

Wilson controlled frame eight with a run of 55 moving him within one of victory, though the contest became scrappy as the stakes intensified.

The Warrior was in for a 6-3 win, but missed a pink with the rest and Brecel cleared to keep his hopes of reaching a first Masters semi-final alive.

The 10th frame then came down to a safely battle on the pink with Wilson 54-52 to the good, after his opponent missed an attempt to the left centre having played a fantastic double on the blue.

Another opportunity eventually fell the way of the world number two, who made no mistake and breathed a huge sigh of relief at getting over the line after a testing day.

“I’m in bits after that,” he added. “I’m so proud, there was so much that I had to deal with today.

“I felt like sobbing this morning when I couldn’t walk, I was gutted. My game’s in really good shape, I’m having a good season. These are the ones you want to turn up for, so silly little things like these just get in your way.

“With what’s gone on today, that’s one of the best wins of my career.”

Next up for Wilson is a mouth-watering last-four clash with Trump, who recovered from 3-1 down to beat Ding Junhui 6-3.

Ding, seeking his first semi-final appearance since 2019, opened with breaks of 70 and 74 for a 2-0 lead. The Ace responded with 75 but broke down on 48 in the next, allowing the Dragon to clear with 72 and move 3-1 ahead.

Trump replied with 97 after the interval and the momentum swung firmly in his favour when Ding missed a routine shot with the rest on 35 in frame six.

The 2011 champion did not score another point thereon, with his opponent scoring 368 without reply.

Two-time winner Trump levelled with 53, before further contributions of 125, 62 and 75 sealed his place in a seventh Masters semi-final.

“I didn’t really feel like I’d done a lot wrong [to be 3-1 behind],” he told BBC Sport.

“I was disappointed to lose the last frame before the interval, but it’s very fine margins at this level. Sometimes, you finish perfectly and clear up. sometimes, you miss and your opponent clears up.

“It frightens the life out of your opponent when you’re going for your shots, and even more so when they’re going in. I could see Ding’s body language changing when I got to 4-3 [up] and it gave me even more confidence. He looked a little in shock but a little bit more worried as well – like if he made a mistake, he knew it was going to be frame over. It just adds a little bit of tension and you overthink, and that can be the difference.”

“Probably now, I’d say I’m somewhere near my peak,” added Trump, whose victory means he is guaranteed £75,000, which brings his total earnings for the season to £1,295,200 – a new record for a single campaign.

“I’m a lot better player than I was maybe five or 10 years ago. I just think it’s the consistency, I’m able to have that inner belief over and over again.

“When I go behind at 3-1, I still believe I can do what I did and rattle off five or 10 frames in a row without missing a single ball. That’s what you have to do at this level.”

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Masters Snooker 2025 | Day Six Results

Friday January 17

Quarter-Finals

Judd Trump 6-3 Ding Junhui
Luca Brecel 4-6 Kyren Wilson