Defending Champion Kyren Wilson Begins Title Defense With Win

Winner of the 2018 Six Red World Championship, Kyren Wilson got his 2019 SangSom Six Red World Championship campaign underway with a 5-2 win over Anthony McGill in the Thailand city of Bangkok.

The event kicked off with a round-robin group stage. Each one of those groups consisted of four players, who square off against each other once, with the top two progressing to the last 16.

Wilson took home the title last year after an 8-4 win over Asian number one Ding Junhui in the finals. He secured today’s win with a three-frame burst from 2-2 to emerge the 5-2 victor, which moves him top of group A, ahead of Thailand’s Password Suwannawat who edged out Mohawk Shehab 5-4.

Ding held off a Joe Perry fightback to win 5-3 in their Group C clash. The Chinese star had previously led 3-0, before being pegged back to 3-3. However, he claimed two on the bounce to come out victorious. Ding Junhui has reached the final of the tournament twice, winning one and losing the other.

The other match in that group saw Thailand’s Noopon Saengkham defeat 12-time women’s World Champion Reanne Evans 5-1.

2004 UK Champion Stephen Maguire trashy Belgium’s Luca Bracelet 5-0. While four-time Crucible king John Higgins was able to battle past Thailand legend James Wattana in a 5-3 win.

Kyren Wilson is a strong favorite to win the 2019 Six Red World Championship. The English professional snooker player won the annual tournament for the first-time last year when he emerged victorious over close rival Ding Junhui.

The 27-year-old, also known as ‘The Warrior,’ achieved his highest ever snooker ranking in February this year. He was named as the 7th best snooker player in the world.

 
 
Written by: Aruorihwo Imisa