Kyren Wilson ends Ali Carter fairytale in brilliant Shanghai Masters final

Metro

3 days ago

Kyren Wilson is Shanghai Masters champion for a second time after beating Ali Carter 11-9 in a brilliant, keenly contested final.
Carter was a late call-up for the tournament as he replaced Mark Allen who withdrew due to personal reasons.
As he made his way through the field, fighting back from behind to beatMark Williams, Xiao Guodong and Mark Selby, it looked like he might be set for a fairytale victory in the prestigious non-ranking event.
However, the world number two has looked in fine form this week and was in no mood to let the Captain write the dream ending to his Shanghai story.
The Warrior had already downed Ronnie O'Sullivan and world champion Zhao Xintong to make the final and remained in good touch as he knocked in three centuries on the way to the title.
Wilson won the tournament when it was a ranking event back in 2015, a huge breakthrough in his career at the time, and he is champion once again, landing the £210,000 top prize.
Everything was a bonus for Carter this week and while he will be disappointed to lose, the £105,000 runner-up prize will cheer him up.
There was little to separate the two men throughout the contest, which was littered with high quality break-building.
Carter took the opener with a 68, Wilson the next two with 129 and 96, then the Captain responded with breaks of 86 and 65 to go back in front.
The Warrior got a run of three frames with three more half-centuries and Carter looked a little frustrated as he felt his opponent was getting the running, but recovered to win the last two frames of the first session, which ended 5-5.
The evening session in Shanghai was more of the same as the first four frames were shared. Wilson then claimed two frames with breaks of 66 and 122, before Carter made 140 and 63 to take the scoreline to 9-9.
The world number 17 just could not string together three frames on the spin and Wilson again took the lead at 10-9 thanks to a run of 86.
What proved to be the final frame was a rare tight one, with both having chances to claim it and Wilson showing some signs of nerves, but then destroyed that idea with a stunning pot on the final red before clearing up to win the frame by one point and become champion.
Both players enjoyed fantastic runs to the final, but Carter's was the most remarkable after repeatedly bouncing back from deficits.
The Captain was 5-2 behind to both Mark Williams in the last 16 and Xiao Guodong in the quarter-finals, but escaped with 6-5 victories.
Kyren Wilson
Semi-final: 10-5 Zhao XintongQuarter-final: 6-3 Ronnie O'Sullivan
Last 16: 6-5 Si Jiahui
Ali Carter
Semi-final: 10-8 Mark SelbyQuarter-final: 6-5 Xiao GuodongLast 16: 6-5 Mark Williams
Last 24: 6-0 Qiu Lei
He was again in trouble against Mark Selby in the semis, 8-6 down, but won the final four frames to progress with a fantastic 10-8 win.
Wilson survived a deciding frame against Si Jiahui in his last 16 outing, edging out the free-wheeling young Chinese star 6-5. More Trending
He then enjoyed two excellent and more comfortable victories, seeing off Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-3 and world champion Zhao Xintong 10-5.
Early in the tournament the pockets in the Luwan Gymnasium appeared to be playing pretty generously, but from the semi-finals onwards they seemed a little less easy for scoring, which shows how well the two finalists were playing.
Wilson has quickly put Crucible disappointment behind him, lifting a trophy at the first opportunity after opening round defeat to Lei Peifan in April as his world title defence ended at the earliest opportunity.
More to follow…
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