Kyren Wilson plays Neil Robertson in the Masters quarter-final at Alexandra Palace, and the 2024 world champion wants to help the Australian away from the table
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is teaming up with Kyren Wilson and his wife, Sophie, to create a support network for players’ families. They aim to have this initiative in place by the time of the World Snooker Championship in April, assisting those left at home when players travel the world on tour.
Wilson leaves Sophie at home with their two children, Bailey and Finley, while working away. They are not the only ones juggling family life with the demands of professional snooker – Neil Robertson, for example, leaves his wife, Mille Fjelldal, and their two children, Alexander and Penelope, back in Australia.
The world No.2 said, via SportsBoom: “In snooker, obviously, you see the players go out, but there’s no actual support for the families back home. Especially when you’ve got… let’s give Neil Robertson, for instance, from Australia, his family is well back on the other side of the world.”
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“So, it’s just about trying to create a support network, whether it be a big WhatsApp group, whether it be a big family day out. Just basically a number to call.”
Wilson was quick to credit his wife for her role in the initiative, saying: “Sophie is at the forefront of it. I’m just following in her footsteps, really, so I don’t want to take any limelight off of her; she did amazing.”
They are already considering expanding the initiative into other sports. Wilson said: “I think it would be fantastic to have the World Snooker organisation, along with my wife, to be the first to do it in sport.
“And then who knows, it could take off from there, and maybe somebody could take the blueprint from what they’ve done and take it into another sport.” However, April represents their next primary target following a relaxed coffee gathering during the Masters at Alexandra Palace.
Wilson added: “That was the first sort of mini stepping stone during the event on Saturday. We’re hoping, fingers crossed, that we can maybe get something up and running a bit clearer by the World Championship. That’s the plan.”
Wilson spoke openly about his mental health after exiting the UK Championship. He said back in December: “I’m just very lost at the minute.
“You were very close to seeing someone have a mental breakdown out there. I gave it my all, but I wanted the world to swallow me up as soon as I missed the pink in the first frame. It’s been a nightmare.
“I just had to sit there and suffer and try my best. I battled – I gave it my all – but I just knew I couldn’t win.”
‘The Warrior’ also believes snooker should draw lessons from boxing. He suggested: “Why can’t we have a corner man that can come to your chair after each frame and just be like, ‘listen, I think you can work on this. How are you feeling?’
“Blah, blah, blah, blah. And I think that could really work in snooker. Maybe taking a leaf out of the boxing, out of the tennis, out of the golf.”
Wilson continued: “It could be your technical coach or your mind coach. It could be anyone, really. But yeah, for me at the moment, it would be someone like my brother.”
