Kyren Wilson names snooker rival he holds in highest regard – 'he is so good I would love to see him kick on'
World champion Kyren Wilson says he hopes to see Anthony McGill kick on from an impressive German Masters.
The Glasgow potter pushed the Warrior hard in Berlin in a repeat of their 2020 World Championship semi-final - which had been labelled "the most bizarre end to a World Championship match I've seen" by Scots snooker great Stephen Hendry at the time. With McGIll missing a snooker eight times in an epic final frame as both players struggled with their nerves as they edged closer to booking a final place.
Since then Wilson has gone on to become world champion, whilst McGill's fortunes have dropped - and he now sits 40th in the world, but he still gave his rival a real scare at the quarter-final stage in Berlin. After taking a tightly contested first two frames, McGill looked to be in control of the third before missing a straightforward red leading 60-6. Wilson hammered home a break of 68 in response to steal on the black. However, McGill was undeterred and made an almost flawless 134 in the next to lead 3-1 at the mid-session.
READ MORE: Martin Bakole reveals Anthony Joshua bout agreed as Airdrie boxer set for Rumble in the Jungle
Wilson responded when play resumed by claiming two on the bounce to restore parity at 3-3. The next two frames were traded to set up a decider, where Wilson made a match winning 72 to advanced to the last four where he got the better of China's Xiao Guodong. But the world champ said he hopes McGill takes plenty of confidence from his performance.
Speaking to WST the Warrior said: "It always seems to be a really close match when we play, it doesn't matter what tournament. Anthony is such a good competitor and match player, I know I just have to dig in. I know he will make it really tough for me. I'm proud of that break in the deciding frame because that took a lot of bottle.
"It's a shame how the World Championship semi-final ended because people forget how good that game was. It was so draining. I feel like we have held each other in really high regard after that and I would love to see him go on and kick on now because he is so good."
