Gary Wilson admitted his first ranking title at the Scottish Open felt like a “home win”. And the 37-year-old ‘Tyneside Terror’, half-Scottish on his mum’s side, also dedicated his triumph to late Newcastle snooker coaching legend Stan Chambers who passed away last year.
Wallsend’s Wilson scorched to victory by thrashing Leicester’s Joe O’Connor 9-2 at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh on Sunday night.
And that meant it was world No32 Wilson that lifted the Stephen Hendry trophy and pocketed the £80,000 first prize.
It was Wilson’s third major final, having lost to Mark Selby at the 2015 China Open and then Mark Williams at last year’s British Open – in a first showpiece for his 27-year-old opponent.
But this time Wilson, the player that fell off tour in 2006 and was off the circuit for seven years, emphatically removed himself from the debate over ‘best player not to win a ranking event’.
During those lost years Wilson worked as a cab driver on Tyneside, as well as spells employed working in a Findus frozen food factory and behind the bar in his local boozer.
But in front of wife Robyn and other members of his family Wilson finally came good in an event that saw him knock out world No1 and world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan last week.
It is a game-changer for Wilson. This propels him up to world No18, into this season’s World Grand Prix, almost certainly also the Players’ Championship, as well as next year’s Champion of Champions.
He said: “I am absolutely over the moon! I am half Scottish on me mam’s side, so it is almost like a home event for me in a way – it’s not too far away.
“Obviously there have been times and with the other finals I doubted this moment would come, I am well into my career. And the longer it goes on you start to think ‘Will I ever win one?’
“Especially the run of form I have been on the last couple of years, I have never looked like getting to this stage so it is absolutely unbelievable to be honest.
“I want to say a massive congratulations to Joe. He played awesome the first few frames and it probably wasn’t noticed – his first final and he was potting them off lampshades.
“He put us under some pressure when you want an easy ride and to get a few frames ahead and relax a little but he didn’t let me. He will win on of these one day, no doubt.
“I hope I can use this as a springboard and kick on from here and win more titles, but the standard is so high these days. And before this week I was nowhere.
“I am just so, so happy to win this one. I have worked so hard for so many years and been in situations where I thought it would never come.
“But I want to make a special mention to Stan Chambers who was a north east snooker fanatic for years and years
“He sadly passed away last year and he believed I could win one. He will be looking down, and proud.”
O’Connor said: “I have had an amazing week, beaten a lot of top-16 players and just unfortunately today I didn’t play my best.
“But congratulations to Gary, he played amazing and he fully deserved the win. But I fully enjoyed the atmosphere tonight and loved every minute of it.
“I would like to say a big thank you go my family and friends who came up to watch, and the crowd have been amazing.
“Having made it to the semis of the Welsh and the final of the Scottish…I hope I can win the English later this month!”
Wilson took a commanding 6-2 lead in the first afternoon session, helped by breaks of 102, 67, 102 and 74.
A local Edinburgh fan shouted out ‘Come on Senegal!’ at the start of the evening session in reference to Auld Enemy England’s last-16 clash against the African side.
But back on the table O’Connor desperately needed a good start to the second session. He didn’t get it, and Wilson ended up taking all three played and in total the final six frames.
*18+ | BeGambleAware | Odds Subject To Change
