World Snooker Champion responds as Ronnie O'Sullivan shows true colours with private call

 Kyren Wilson suffered an early exit from the World Championships in Sheffield earlier this season but has been given some advice by Ronnie O’Sullivan that he’s determined to stick by.

Kyren Wilson is set to follow Ronnie O’Sullivan’s advice to ensure that snooker does not become a ‘slog’. The 33-year-old arrived at the Crucible last month as the defending world champion.

But his run in the competition ended as quickly as it had begun with a 10-9 defeat to Chinese youngster Lei Peifan in the opening round. Seven-time champion O’Sullivan had hinted that Wilson’s exit was down to a packed snooker schedule, something that the latter is keen to rectify so he can return to top form.

Wilson said: “I chatted at length with Ronnie about it actually. We had a phone call during the World Championships after I’d been beaten, which was really nice of him to give me a bit of support afterwards.

“I’d done an exhibition in Macau over New Year’s. I got back, I went straight into the Championship League, won that group, got straight into the Masters final and then went straight to Germany, won that, then went straight into the Championship League again and I lost in the final of that.

“We spoke at that time actually and just had a little chat about it. And in hindsight, maybe I should have just skipped the Championship League, although I wanted to keep winning because I know I’m playing well and I think I can win. You’ve just got to rest your mind at certain times and maybe that was the time.”

O’Sullivan has certainly dialled back his own commitments at the table over recent months. He had barely played heading into the World Championships in Sheffield.

Wilson is determined to allow himself a break every now and again to ensure the sport doesn’t become a chore. He added: “I think definitely I’ll take a leaf out of his book. I think you want to stay hungry.

“You want to keep enjoying it. And I think if you slog it out and you go tournament, tournament, tournament, tournament, it almost becomes too repetitive to the point where you stop enjoying it.

Kyren Wilson lifted the world championships last year

“Whereas if you give yourself a little break, you’re like, oh, you know, I miss it, I really want to get back to it. And I think that’s something he’s been very clever with over the years. That’s something I need to look at doing for the future of my career to kind of get the best out of me at the right times.”