Gary Wilson Confident Despite Tough First-Round Draw at Crucible
Gary Wilson, a former semi-finalist at the World Snooker Championship, is set to return to the Crucible as a seed this year. The Tyneside native will face Elliot Slessor, a familiar opponent, in the last 32 of the tournament.
Despite being excited to get into action, Wilson has described the draw as a “nightmare” as one of them has to lose. He acknowledges that there are no easy draws in the tournament, and being a seed does not guarantee a win against a qualifier.
Wilson won his first ranking title at the Scottish Open earlier this season but narrowly missed out on qualification for the Tour Championship. He admits to being gutted when he lost 5-4 to Pang Junxu in the semi-finals of the WST Classic last month, which could have secured his place at the Tour Championship.
However, being a seed at the Crucible has helped Wilson to focus more on the World Championship. He aims to repeat his 2019 performance when he reached the last four and to get back to the one-table set-up again.
Wilson acknowledges that winning the tournament is an ambition, but he is taking one match at a time and focusing on every shot, frame, and match. His first target is to get back to the semi-finals, and if he gets there, then he will start thinking about winning it.
Wilson and Slessor previously met in the 2021 British Open semi-finals, and they are set to face off again on Tuesday at 10 am.
