Kyren Wilson bowed out of the British Open on Thursday following a 4-2 loss to Elliot Slessor in the last 16 in Cheltenham.
The world champion responded to his opponent’s opening 128 contribution with a break of 81 in the second frame but subsequently lost three of the next four frames to exit the ranking event.
An evidently angry Wilson, who wasn’t chosen to play on the main TV table, then took to social media to vent his frustrations at how he is being treated as the reigning Crucible champion.
“Same sh*t, different day. Demoted to table 2 again and get found out!” Kyren Wilson wrote on Instagram.
“What benefits does a world champion get nowadays? Graveyard shift in Brentwood, table 2 in Saudi every game whilst being the number 1 seed there!”
“Table 2 tonight in Cheltenham and being the highest ranked in the session…unfortunately nothing ever changes with the sport I love.
“If your face doesn’t fit…tough,” Wilson sarcastically concluded with a thumb’s up emoticon.
The current world number two continued to vent his frustrations later on social media platform X, claiming “people can have their opinions.”
“[It’s] always been that you earn the right for the privileges. Apparently not anymore. I always try to promote the sport and be a good ambassador for it, what’s the point?”
The “graveyard shift” refers to games that are scheduled late during the evening session of play at events.
At this week’s British Open and during last week’s English Open, for example, two best-of-seven fixtures have been scheduled consecutively for the 7pm session.
Last week, Wilson began his last-16 tie with Barry Hawkins at around 11pm and duly lost 4-2 to his fellow Englishman close to 1am.
It’s reasonable for the Kettering cueist to expect more favourable treatment following his exploits in Sheffield earlier this year.
Wilson backed up his breakthrough moment in a major tournament by capturing the inaugural Xi’an Grand Prix crown at the start of this season in China.
Many people on social media agreed with him, with former professional Andres Petrov saying on X: “Good that he is saying it out loud. Only way to change things sometimes.”
“He’s got a point,” X user TSnooker wrote. “There is no consistency on how they decide the TV match.”
“Sometimes it’s the highest ranked player, often it’s the most popular player, and rarely it’s the best match.”
But some others disagreed, with snooker fan Richie Lawlor typing: “Unfortunately, nobody wants to watch him play.”
“His cue action, his style, it’s all mind-numbing and robotic. The TV companies want entertainment and watching Kyren play is like peeling wallpaper.”
“His style is effective obviously, but more people will switch off if he’s on.”
The 2024 British Open continues on Friday, meanwhile, with the four quarter-final matches at the Centaur.
World number one Judd Trump faces Mark Allen, last year’s runner-up Mark Selby encounters David Gilbert, and World Championship finalist Jak Jones takes on Oliver Lines.
Slessor, who should be applauded for producing a fine display to beat Wilson, will challenge legend of the game John Higgins.
The players are competing for the £100,000 top prize and will be hoping to get the opportunity to lift the Clive Everton Trophy aloft on Sunday.
That experience will be altogether more poignant this weekend following the sad news on Friday of Everton’s death at the age of 87.
Everton, a former player, was at the forefront of snooker journalism for decades and a leading voice for the game on television as a commentator.
Featured photo credit: WST
