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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Liam Llewellyn

Snooker star apologises to opponent after tense exchange over 'disgusting' attitude

Snooker star Gary Wilson opened up on some mid-match tension with Kyren Wilson in their Scottish Open quarter-final. Gary progressed to the last four after battling back from 3-1 down to register a 5-3 win and claimed he was surprised to emerge with the victory.

But during his post-match interview, he revealed a mini outburst in the interval and claimed “had a lob at one of the balls” to let off steam. Post-match, the 37-year-old from Wallsend said Kyren claimed he was impacted by what went on at the interval. “I lost my head to be honest,” Wilson told Eurosport.

“I went into the practice room and had a lob at one of the balls. To be fair, I want to say a kind of sorry to Kyren. He did say after the match that he thought my attitude was disgusting in the interval and when I left the red over the pocket. I just said I was only having a laugh with the crowd with the red over the hole.

"Things weren’t going too well for both of us then so I was just trying to lighten the mood. I asked him what he meant and he said 'at the interval I could hear a bang.' I said 'I did not mean anything towards you, that was just me getting annoyed'. He said 'it can affect your opponent' and I said ‘sorry if it did, it was not my intention’.

"I was just letting off a bit of steam in the interval, which I feel I am perfectly entitled to do. If he felt he was affected by that I kind of apologise because I did not mean that at all, I am not like that, but at the same time I am entitled to let off a bit of steam. He was not even anywhere near me.”

Along with how disappointed he was with his antics backstage, Wilson was also upset with his performance, despite the resilience he showed after coming from behind. “It was dreadful,” he added. “I dragged him down to my level, it was disgusting. But at the end of the day I have a win and it is a great win.

Kyren Wilson was not happy with Gary Wilson's antics during the interval (Eurosport twitter)

"You can’t keep playing like that and expecting to win. But I seem to do this every now and again and have a decent run in something.

“I think I have got bottle, even though I have no technique at times. I feel like I can hold myself together and play the easy shots.”

Wilson reached the last eight after defeating the great Ronnie O’Sullivan 4-3 in round three. He will face Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in the semi-final, who overcame Judd Trump in a thrilling 5-4 contest.

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