When you think of players that have a good record at the Welsh Open, Gary Wilson probably is not automatically at the top of your list, but in the last four years this event has been the scene of his maiden ranking quarter-final in 2015 and another semi-final 12 months ago.
The first of those runs set up his best week yet back in April 2015 as he reached the China Open final and now well established at world number 34, Wilson is hoping to go one step further and win his maiden ranking title.
It would almost be fitting for Wilson if such a feat were to be achieved at the Welsh Open, an event that has already offered career highlights as well as memories from a much younger age.
"I grew up watching the Welsh Open on Sky and remember Paul Hunter winning it. As an event it's better than the other Home Nations events and feels more like a stand alone ranking event as I would not put the others in the same bracket as it yet. For me, it should never leave the calendar it is that good an event and it would be sorely missed if there was no event in Wales", Wilson exclaimed.
All good runs have to start somewhere and Wilson's 2019 Cardiff campaign gets underway on Tuesday afternoon when he takes on Finland's Robin Hull, with Hull winning their only previous tour meeting 4-3 back in 2016.
"He's a tough player. Always a tough player. He's not been playing much through illness but you can't go into a game thinking about whether a player is fit or not. You have no idea what's going on and he could bit as fit as a fiddle for all I know, so it's just another game on tour".
The two runs that Wilson has had in Wales since the tournament moved to the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff back in 2015 may be entirely coincidental, but the 2018 semi-finalist does believe he is more relaxed in the Welsh capital.
"It's a very good venue and having the BBC surrounding it makes it feel like a proper event, especially if you get to play on the main match table. I do seem to feel more relaxed in Cardiff. It's walking distance from the hotel to the venue and everything's on your doorstep which just makes everything easier and means there's no messing around getting a taxi everywhere. So maybe subconsciously that helps me to relax".
That 2015 run specifically was a big moment for Wilson at the time, overcoming the likes of Joe Perry and Neil Robertson to make his maiden ranking event quarter-final and Wilson remembers it fondly because of what it would lead to.
"That run felt like a stepping stone to go on and reach the China Open final. I don't know if I would have been able to do one without the other. It gave me the confidence that I could reach the latter stages without even playing that well. Before the event I remember a technical change I made. I had held the cue the same way for my whole career and about three or four days before the event I decided to flip it so that the arrows in the grain were facing upwards, how most players have them. It may only be a small change but it completely changes how the cue plays. I had really been struggling for a while so was desperately trying anything to turn my game around. It may be a little change but it made a big difference".
For Wilson that technical change may have also been a career changing one as it took just two months for him to go on and reach a ranking event final, beating Ricky Walden, Liang Wenbo, Barry Hawkins and Ding Junhui in the 2015 China Open before losing out to Mark Selby. Like the Cardiff quarter-final though, Wilson still feels that he did not play that well for much of the run.
"I'm obviously really proud of it but it has not led to as much as I had hoped. I don't really feel like I have kicked on as much as I thought I would. I only felt I played well against Ding in the semi-final, I had been playing solid stuff but no better than normal, I had just been getting through. I didn't even play that well against Hawkins and thought that one good performance in the semi's could get me into a final and that was exactly what happened".
While progress in the seasons since then may have been slower than Wilson himself anticipated, he has still had some good moments and last year's Welsh Open was another as he reached the last four before losing out to eventual winner John Higgins.
"There are not many tougher semi opponents that John Higgins. It had been a good while since I had been in the latter stages. It did not feel like I had been playing with true form. There was a good run here or there because I was bound to have one eventually as I definitely feel like I'm good enough. I still don't feel like I necessarily played that well to make the latter stages that week".
Believing as he does that the best is yet then Wilson could well one day be a ranking event winner and with a number of first time ranking event winners coming through in recent years, like Jimmy Robertson in this season's European Masters, then you feel that there is still plenty of time for him to make it happen.
"I do believe that I can win one. I have struggled quite a bit but I think I am very capable of winning. It's just getting everything to click altogether. Getting to the latter stages as I have done without playing well shows I can do it. Seeing Jimmy Robertson win, having grown up playing against him and getting on well with him, it feels like there is no reason why I can't win either".
The 2018/2019 season itself started strongly for Wilson as he made it through to the quarter-finals of the World Open in China in the summer and based on previous seasons, it was a flying start to the campaign.
"I have never felt like I'd had a good start to the season for the last 5 or 6 years so it was a little boost straight away making a quarter-final. Making that quarter-final was really the only reason I was in the World Grand Prix. It was probably the best I had played since China in 2015. I was just trying my best and it started coming together. When I beat Judd Trump I did not give him much and won a lot of frames in 1 visit to not give him a shot".
That run was as Wilson mentions the large contributing factor as he qualified for the recent World Grand Prix, after results went his way during the German Masters a week earlier and because of that Wilson sees it as a bonus.
"I was having a look at the results but that's just me, I like to know what is going on. I was just looking mainly because of the short turnaround so that I could sort a hotel and plan a bit. Getting in was a bonus and if I would have missed out it did not feel like I would have deserved to have made it. The game against Allen was an embarrassment. A real embarrassment. I let myself down on TV there but I just have to go home and start again for the Welsh".
Soon following the Welsh Open is the controversial Snooker Shoot-Out, an event that divides public opinion, particularly since it gained ranking status in 2017. While Wilson has no problem with it being a ranking event in theory, the actual practice of the world ranking system is something he believes should be addressed.
"My opinion on the Shoot-Out has a few factors. It all revolves around whether you have a points or money ranking system. Now we have a money ranking system and it needs rectifying because it isn't the best way in my opinion. I have no problem with the Shoot-Out being a ranking event, every tournament can be as there is so many now. It does need scaling though so there's not ridiculous gains for the players. There should really be 3 or 4 tiers of ranking events so it is fair for everyone".
It's not just the rankings Wilson thinks could be changed though as the current seeding system in certain tournaments delivers confusion, with events like the Welsh Open having the top 16 seeded, while the Chinese events have the top 64 seeded and other events are completely unseeded.
"The seeding structure is different for a lot of tournaments now. You want a bit of variance so I can see that viewpoint. It seems daft from a playing perspective but seems good business wise. I think they should pick 1 way for all tournaments and stick with it. The ones that are completely unseeded need looking at because that does not seem right at all. The rankings need to mean something. It does for the top 16 so why should it not for everyone?"
Also on the horizon is the World Championship and Wilson made his Crucible debut back in 2017, coming through the qualifiers before losing out to Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last 32 and for Wilson this was a major moment.
"I said this at the time but to me that was better than reaching the China Open final. To finally do that is what snooker players dream of and I was really happy to get there. It was the dream draw against Ronnie so I was really happy, it was just missing the icing on the cake which would have been pushing Ronnie a bit more. I played solid in the qualifiers. I made a 147 and three tons against Josh Boileau and made eight tons overall. All three rounds I felt I was playing solid".
While this is not a worry now, back in 2017 Wilson would have fallen out of the top 64 had he lost the deciding frame of his first qualifier against Boileau and the World Championship qualifiers do bring a unique level of nerves and tension.
"My first round match against Boileau saved my tour place to stay in the top 64, otherwise I would have had to start again from 0 on the ranking list the following season. It was very nervy for me at some points and I fell apart in the middle of the match (had led 5-0 and 7-2 before Boileau fought back). I didn't have a shot for a couple of frames and then had to make a break in the decider to win it. It was a proud and very nervy moment as a defeat could have changed my whole career. John Astley and Elliot Slessor who I know well were in the same situation last year and it all must go through a players head in these qualifiers".
Now Wilson is able to aim a lot higher though and he does so with his two goals for the remainder of the season, admitting that he has had these targets for a while.
"My goals are to win an event and to make it back to the Crucible. I used to have ranking related goals but because of the seeding structure the rankings are not as important so there's no real target there".
Whether or not Wilson goes on to achieve his big goals and dreams in the future remains to be seen but playing more consistently and sitting in a stronger ranking position these days he should certainly be a lot more hopeful.
Thanks to Gary Wilson for giving up his time to do this interview and I would like to wish him all the best of luck for next week's Welsh Open and the remainder of the 2018/2019 season.
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