May 9th 2024.
Kyren Wilson pulled out all the stops to secure the coveted world title in snooker. And he was not afraid to use all the tools at his disposal, including a clever mind game during a mid-match interview with the BBC.
In the final of the World Snooker Championship, Wilson faced off against Jak Jones and emerged victorious with a score of 18-14, claiming the top spot in the sport and a whopping £500,000 in prize money. The match didn't start off easy, but Wilson quickly gained momentum, winning the first seven frames. However, Jones put up a tough fight and closed the gap in the following sessions.
After the first session ended with a score of 7-1 in Wilson's favor, he had a specific goal in mind for the second session. As he explained to the BBC in a post-match interview, he wanted to reach a score of 11-6 by the end of the day. This puzzled snooker legend Stephen Hendry, who couldn't understand why Wilson would want to lose a session when he was already ahead. In Hendry's mind, a 7-1 lead should be used to push even further ahead and win the match quickly.
During a chat on Hendry's Snooker Club podcast, the seven-time world champion confronted Wilson about his seemingly odd strategy. Wilson laughed it off and revealed that it was all part of a mind game he was playing with Jones. He wanted to appear confident and bullish in the interview, knowing that Jones would watch it back and see his words. In reality, he had no intention of losing the session and was simply trying to throw his opponent off.
As Wilson explained to Hendry, he had to "fake it" to keep Jones on his toes. He knew that a little bit of theater and mind games could make all the difference in a high-stakes match like this. And it clearly worked, as he went on to claim the world title for the first time in his career.
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