In a brand new feature, we interviewed the best snooker players to find out what they saw as their best game. In the last issue we interviewed Stuart Bingham, and today's protagonist is four-time ranking champion Karen Wilson.
In 2015, Wilson's stunning victory at the Shanghai Masters led to an explosive rise that pulled him back from the abyss of relegation.
Nicknamed the "Warriors," Wilson turned pro in 2010/11 and was relegated after playing just one season on the Pro Tour. However, he was not discouraged, and he broke free from the disappointment and returned to the professional arena in 2013 by his own efforts.
After that relegation, Wilson abandoned his previous training methods and worked with his coach, Barry Stark, to reinvent his batting technique so that he could better cope with the pressure of high-intensity competition.
The hard work on the practice stage culminated in the final of the 2015 Shanghai Masters, where Wilson beat Judd Trump 10:9 with unparalleled courage to win his first ranking title. The final battle was also chosen by Wilson as his own best match to date.
In that final, when Wilson led Trump 9-7, he was close to his first ranking title. However, Trump's Jedi counter-attacked to tie the score to a 9-9 draw. Wilson plucked up the courage to score a beautiful 75 to win the tiebreaker. Wilson admitted after the game that he would not have won the final without his and Stark's reconstructed offensive moves.
"I'm 100 percent capsized under heavy pressure, and my aiming at the ball is too long. Under that pressure, the aiming ball can't go wrong in the slightest. Refactoring the aim is difficult at first, but it's good for me in the long run. Wilson, 29, admitted.
"I completely rebuilt my shot moves. As a young man, my technique may be gorgeous, the end of the rod is elongated, very smooth and very natural. In my first year on the tour, more experienced players beat me to the punch. I was able to fight back, but to get a steady performance, I set my sights on the likes of John Higgins and Mark Selby. Their status that is difficult for others to reach must have many outstanding points. ”
"I always believed I could win a title. When I was demoted, I didn't waver in my convictions. I knew I had to make changes and reinvent my game to better handle the pressure. I went into a low ebb and practiced very hard for those two and a half years. If you look at the statistics, I've climbed my rankings almost year after year since that final. ”
Trump trailed the score to a 9-9 draw while he was behind, and his chase would bring many players to their knees in the situation. For Wilson, however, his emotional management of the game and the anticipation of opportunities to emerge managed to help him stay calm and play steadily to win in the decider.
Wilson said: "From 9:7 onwards, I said to myself, my opportunity is coming and I have to be ready to grab it. I have three match points in my hand. In the next two innings, I really didn't have a chance. Judd plays well and you can't expect him to go wrong. He can score goals that a lot of people would expect, and he can make you feel stressed. He chased the score to 9:9 with a furious stance, but I still maintained the same steady and calm mentality. ”
"The opportunity did come, but it was an awkwardly positioned red ball and I barely made a hand frame on the red ball pile to put it in the middle pocket. If I hadn't scored, I would have lost the game. I just thought it was an opportunity that I thought would come. Despite the great risks, I felt like I had to take that opportunity. I scored that red ball and did a good job of scoring the next consecutive points. I was nervous, and I used myself as a backing to prop myself up to fight. I told myself to calm down and deal with it calmly. ”
Despite Wilson's high self-confidence, he realized that winning his first ranking title had played an important role in his career. Since then, he has won three more ranking titles and managed to reach the finals of the Masters and World Championships.
"That final at the Shanghai Masters was my first ranking final, playing in such a big tournament overseas, facing a top pro, and finally winning the championship under the pressure of lighting up my career. If you don't win your first title all the time, you'll definitely be as persistent as any other player to aspire and chase. I'm proud that I was able to win the title after reaching the final for the first time. ”
"There was another thing that made the final of the Shanghai Masters so special, it was my father's 50th birthday. All the family celebrated his birthday in Tenerife that day. A few days before the final, I saw family members on social media sharing a video of my match against Ding Junhui in a bar in Tenerife. It was great to see them all cheering and celebrating after I won, and my family's encouragement was important to me. ”
"I have a big preference for Shanghai and it's great to win my first ranking title there. You'll go on a tour of the Bund, which has nice restaurants. I made a couple of very good friends there and they took me to a lot of interesting places. I remember the following year, when I came to Shanghai as the defending champion, I took my wife Sophie with my mom and dad to go there. There were posters of mine hanging around the arena, and posters of mine on the lampposts. It's nice to be able to experience the defending champion with my family. I miss my days in Shanghai, it was a special place, and for me, that's where my career really started. ”