Kyren Wilson's Audacious Trick Shot Puts the Gloss on a 142 Break at the Welsh Open
The World Champion Does Things His Own Way
There are centuries, and then there are centuries. Most players are content to pot the final ball cleanly, tap the cue on the rest, and accept the applause with a modest nod. Kyren Wilson, apparently, had other ideas. The reigning World Champion brought his match against Liu Hongyu at the Welsh Open to a close in the most flamboyant fashion imaginable, producing an audacious trick shot on the final black to complete a break of 142 — and in doing so, reminding everyone watching exactly why snooker, at its best, is unlike any other sport on earth.
The shot itself was the kind of thing you might expect to see in a practice room at two in the morning, not under the competitive lights of a televised tournament. Yet there was Wilson, composed as ever, reading the table like a man with nothing to prove and everything to enjoy. The black disappeared into the pocket with a satisfying authority, the crowd's reaction shifting from stunned silence to delighted applause in the space of a heartbeat. It was showmanship without arrogance — a moment of pure, unscripted joy.
A Break That Deserved a Proper Finish
Context matters here. A break of 142 is no throwaway effort. It sits comfortably in the upper reaches of what's possible on a snooker table — the maximum break stands at 147, meaning Wilson's contribution left precious little margin for error throughout. To build a clearance of that size requires not just potting ability but positional mastery, the mental arithmetic of a chess grandmaster, and the nerve to keep executing when the pressure mounts with every successive ball. The fact that Wilson chose to crown it with a trick shot on the black speaks to a confidence that borders on the serene.
Wilson claimed the World Championship crown at the Crucible last year in a performance that announced him, definitively, as one of the modern game's elite operators. Since then, he has carried himself with the quiet assurance of a man who knows what he's capable of. The Welsh Open has traditionally been a tournament that brings out the best in players who enjoy a bit of freedom in their game — the atmosphere, while not quite the Crucible's cathedral hush, carries its own warmth — and Wilson appeared to be feeding off every bit of it against Liu Hongyu.
Liu Hongyu and the Rising Chinese Contingent
It would be remiss not to spare a thought for Liu Hongyu, the young Chinese player who continues to represent the extraordinary depth of talent emerging from that part of the world. Chinese players have transformed the professional circuit over the past decade, and Liu's presence in the draw is a reminder of just how fiercely competitive the sport has become at every level. Wilson's break, brilliant as it was, came against opposition that gave him no easy route to the table — which makes the fluency of that 142 all the more impressive.
The Welsh Open itself has been a tournament full of moments worth celebrating. Elsewhere in the draw, Kelvin Chang made headlines with a remarkable run of four consecutive centuries — a feat one commentator described as "a piece of snooker history" — underlining that this has been a week in which the balls have been running kindly for players willing to take the game on. Wilson's trick-shot flourish fits neatly into that narrative: a tournament that seems to have given players permission to express themselves.
Why These Moments Matter
In an era where snooker's governing bodies work hard to attract new audiences and bring younger fans to the sport, moments like Wilson's trick shot on the final black carry a weight that goes beyond the scoreline. They are the clips that travel — shared on social media, replayed on highlight reels, stumbled upon by someone who had never previously given snooker a second glance. A sport that can produce both the grinding, tactical masterclass and the jaw-dropping trick shot in the same session is a sport with something for everyone.
Wilson himself has spoken before about the importance of enjoying the game, of not letting the pressure of being World Champion squeeze the pleasure out of competing. If that 142 break against Liu Hongyu is anything to go by, he seems to be managing it rather well. The trick shot on the black wasn't necessary. It wasn't sensible. It was, in every possible sense, absolutely brilliant — and that's precisely the point.
