Kyren Wilson fell victim to the ‘Crucible Curse’ as he crashed out in the first round of the World Snooker Championship in a dramatic 10-9 defeat to China’s world number 39 Lei Peifan.
Wilson lost seven frames in a row in the course of becoming the 20th first-time Crucible champion to fail to defend his title, and the seventh to fall in the first round the following year.
Debutant Lei, one of a record 10 Chinese players in this year’s draw, looked down and out at 6-2 behind but staged a stunning recovery, including a run of six consecutive half-centuries, to move to the brink of victory.
The 21-year-old then had to withstand a stirring Wilson comeback before delivering a pressure-filled break of 66 in the decider to send the defending champion tumbling out.
“Obviously it’s really hard to take,” said Wilson. “I’ve got such a strong record at the Crucible and I was nowhere near my best but it still took a 10-9 to beat me.
“It’s been a really long season and I’ve done so much. I’ve never been stretched so much in all my life but I’m proud of the way I’ve handled it and I’m proud of the success I’ve had as well.”
Reflecting on becoming the latest victim of the ‘curse’, Wilson added: “It’s obviously been built up into something it’s not, because other players have gone on to win it. I’m sure it’ll be broken at some point but unfortunately I won’t be that person.”
Wilson had arrived at the Crucible on the back of a season that yielded four ranking titles and a final appearance at the Masters, and expressed confidence that he would be the man to put the 48-year-old ‘curse’ to bed.
In Lei he came up against a 21-year-old who clinched a shock ranking title win at the Scottish Open in December, but looked so nervous on the big occasion that he potted the blue from his opening break-off of the match.
Wilson helped Lei settle those nerves by missing two early blacks and gifting his opponent a two-frame lead, but the Englishman took full control by winning the next six, including back-to-back breaks of 82 and 136 to establish a commanding advantage.
Lei gave himself hope by snatching the last frame of the morning session, and spectacularly increased his momentum upon the evening resumption, as a run of four consecutive half-centuries carried him into a 7-6 lead at the midsession interval.
Wilson got the first chance after the short break but stabbed at a long red on 19 and was punished by his opponent, who responded with a break of 69, including a stunning long green, to move within two frames of an improbable victory.
There was still no sign of nerves as Lei pounced on another early Wilson error with a scintillating break of 92, his sixth consecutive half-century, to go 9-6 up.
Wilson stopped the rot with a rousing clearance of 106, and two more nerveless clearances of 45 and 60 respectively set up the decider which went the way of the underdog.
Elsewhere, three-time world champion Mark Williams withstood a Chinese whirlwind to edge a 5-4 advantage over rising star Wu Yize in a match that will conclude on Sunday.
Williams eased into a 3-0 lead only for Wu to reel off the next four frames with a run of 466 unanswered points – only 19 off the tournament record set by John Higgins in 2000.
But Williams responded by taking the last two frames of the session, finishing with a break of 78 to re-establish his slender advantage.
Another former champion, 2010 winner Neil Robertson, is in real trouble after falling 7-2 behind in his match against qualifier Chris Wakelin.
Wakelin opened with a break of 108 and hit four further half-centuries as he threatened to overwhelm the Australian, and after clinching a marathon final frame of the session on the black, the 33-year-old is hot favourite to complete an upset win.
China’s 14th seed Xiao Guodong fired two centuries as he established a 7-2 overnight lead against Matthew Selt, while former finalist Barry Hawkins chiselled a 5-4 advantage over Hossein Vafaei.
