Kyren Wilson forced to skip playing snooker after undergoing 'torrid time off the table'

Kyren Wilson says he stopped playing snooker for over a month because of his wife’s poor health. The former snooker world champion, 33, is the current world No. 2, thanks largely to his triumphs at last year's World Championshipand this season's Shanghai Masters.

Yet, Wilson has experienced a notable decline in form, being knocked out of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, the Wuhan Open and the English Open earlier than anticipated. His displays have been a stark contrast to the player who achieved glory at the Crucible in 2024.

Wilson has now revealed the entirely understandable reason for his struggles, by revealing the difficult period he and his family are enduring, which has prevented him from practising.

He shared details of how his wife of nine years, Sophie, was forced to have surgery because of an illness.

Sophie, who is the mother of his two children,previously suffered a stroke, though the reason for her recent operation remains unclear.

READ MORE: Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy in firing line as British Open star lashes out – 'Quite pathetic'

READ MORE: Who is Stan Moody? 'Luke Littler of snooker' tipped for big things by Ronnie O'Sullivan

Speaking to the World Snooker Tour following his victory over Haris Tahir in his opening match at the Xi'an Grand Prix, he said: "I've had a bit of a torrid time off the table.

"My wife has been very poorly so I've not really played snooker for the best part of four or five weeks now. I think she's coming up to about six weeks of recovery tomorrow, so I feel like my snooker is slowly coming back.

"I've started to put a bit more time in, I can focus a bit more on my game. As a result, hopefully you start seeing the results that you've been used to.

“It was a last-minute decision to come out to China. It kind of did my head in a little bit – it's not nice knowing that someone is going to be on the operating table while you're going to hit some snooker balls around.

“But that's the sort of sacrifice that me and my family are willing to make to be successful at this game. Sometimes you've just got to make sure that your head is clear and thankfully now I feel like I'm getting there.”

It follows Wilson's revelation last year that his mother had been battling breast cancer, having posted on Instagram: "Just before this year's world championships we had the horrible news that my mum was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“My mum is my hero and has sacrificed everything for my career to be successful. My mum and my dad have made me a fighter and she has shown what a fighter she is in fighting off this horrible disease!

"We celebrated her beating breast cancer last night with family and friends with a cheeky curry!”