Gary Wilson slams match against Stephen Hendry as “an embarrassment”
Gary Wilson looks on (Photo by ChinaImages/SIPA USA/PA Images)
Gary Wilson has described his Second Round match against Stephen Hendry at the British Open as “an embarrassment”.
World number 33 Wilson ran out a comfortable 3-0 winner at the Morningside Arena in Leicester in a match to forget for both players.
Hendry, appearing in his first event of the season, failed to punish his opponent’s unforced errors and ended with a pot success rate of just 71 per cent.
Wilson, who failed to make a half century in any of three frames, unleashed a scathing assessment of the match in his post-match interview with ITV.
The Tynesider said: “I’m always honest and I’m going to be totally honest – I don’t know what to say about that game.
“Stephen’s trying to get back to where he was before, but to be honest, that was an embarrassment.
“The whole match was an embarrassment really, Stephen would probably tell you the same if he was being ultra honest.
“Dear me, the balls that were being snatched and missed. It was pretty bad, like.”
“I wasn’t getting punished but I was so unhappy with the way I was hitting the ball, it wasn’t really about Stephen anymore.
“I was just terrible, really, really bad.”
Wilson endured a nightmare season behind closed doors in 2020/21, suffering no fewer than seven First Round exits in ranking events.
The former China Open finalist will be hoping for a change in fortunes as crowds return, and has been drawn to face China’s Xu Si in the Last 32 on Friday.
Hendry, who made a shock return to the professional circuit last year after an eight-year absence, battled past Chris Wakelin in a First Round decider, but struggled to settle from the outset 48 hours later.
The seven-time World Champion admitted: “I left my cue action on the practice table. It was not good today.
“I butchered the break off in the first frame. For me to beat these players I need to get off to a good start and I didn’t today.
“If I play bad shots my head goes down and you can’t afford that at this level.”