Gary Wilson secures maiden title with Scottish Open victory

Gary Wilson has won his first ranking title at the Scottish Open, securing the Stephen Hendry Trophy with a dominant 9-2 win over Joe O’Connor.

Wilson, who turned professional soe 18 years ago, was merciless as he produced strong form and punished his opponent for his errors. He’d been superb throughout the tournament, eliminating Ronnie O’Sullivan, Hossein Vafaei, Kyren Wilson and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, and he came into the final the strong favourite – a billing he was thrilled to finally live up to.

The match began with jitters, as both players missed chances in the opening frame. O’Connor missed a red to the bottom right, and Wilson punished him with a century of 102. But he responded well with a 99 to level, and then seemed the favourite for the third frame, showcasing the top-quality snooker that eliminated Neil Robertson. He failed to pot the frame-ball pink, breaking down on 64, and Wilson made a 67 to steal the frame. O’Connor had a chance in frame four, but after a giant miss – hitting the red on the wrong side entirely – Wilson secured a 3-1 lead at the interval.

O’Connor took the fifth frame – it was hard to imagine at this point that it would be his last of the match, but Wilson was seizing on every opportunity, and he swiftly restored his two-frame advantage with another 102. The young player was incredibly lucky to fluke a red in frame seven, but he didn’t take the initiative, missing an easy red and then an easy pink. It would be a four-frame lead for Wilson in the evening session – O’Connor’s break in frame eight ended on 44 as he missed the middle, and Wilson made 74 to take it.

You feel like you are never going to get anywhere, and out of nowhere you have a week like this

– Gary Wilson

In the second session, the damage was already done. Wilson swiftly established a lead of 68 with 67 remaining – O’Connor couldn’t land the snooker, and he left a red on that ended the frame. It was two to go for Wilson, but O’Connor’s chance first in frame 10. He built a decent lead, and needed a red and a colour to get back into the frame – but he missed, and brought his salvation, a safe ball, back into play too. Wilson needed everything to take the frame, and he compiled a cool clearance under pressure. He was one frame away and, after O’Connor missed a long red, he soon compiled a break of 94 to achieve a dream that had been a long time in coming.

After the match, Wilson was asked how he felt. He said: “Over the moon. It is unbelievable how you can you go through a career and feel like you are never going to get anywhere, and out of nowhere you have a week like this.

“Before this week I was nowhere really. I’m just so, so happy to win this one. I’ve worked so hard for so many years and been in so many situations where I thought it would never come. It’s unbelievable. I’m so, so happy.

“I’m well into my career now and the longer it goes on you think: ‘Am I ever going to win one?’ Especially the run of form I’ve had in the last couple of years, I’ve never even looked like getting to this stage. It’s unbelievable.”

As a result of the win, he will rise to world no. 18 in the ranking, and thus gain entry into elite events such as the Players Championship and the Champion of Champions. He also picks up the first prize of £80,000.