Wilson edges past Zhang in tight Masters opener

World champion Kyren Wilson edged past Zhang Anda 6-4 to move into the quarter-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace.

He will now face the man who preceded him as the King of the Crucible, with Luca Brecel defeating Chris Wakelin 6-3 on Wednesday evening.

Wilson remarkably finished the contest having potted significantly fewer balls, and scoring 275 points less than Zhang, but was crucially clinical when it mattered – taking the first, fourth and seventh frames when his opponent was well-placed to win them.

The Englishman, who has already won two events this term, led 3-1 at the interval but Zhang compiled breaks of 65, 83 and a sublime 141 to leave the match delicately poised at 4-4.

However, Wilson then took a nervy frame and sealed his victory in a tense 10th frame.

“I feel like I managed to pinch the key frames,” Wilson told BBC Sport.

“Every credit to Zhang, I thought he played fantastic. I have never seen such a consistent display of long potting.

“I was petrified every time a ball stuck out because he was just potting them. It was incredible. I just had to hang on in there and nick the odd frame. I am pleased to just get over the line.”

Brecel, who has struggled since reaching the pinnacle of the sport in 2023, produced an array of stunning pots in his win over Wakelin.

His shot from the brown to blue in the opening frame, which is likely to be one of the best of the tournament, underlined the abundance of talent the 29-year-old possesses.

There were also plenty of examples of the erratic form that has him 61st on the one-year list, in danger of losing his professional tour card and has prompted some pundits to question his focus, with the Belgian intent on competing in an Ironman triathlon in 2028.

However, his ability to deliver moments of sheer brilliance carried him through – underlined towards the end of the eighth frame as he knocked in successive difficult pots on the brown, blue and pink to regain a two-frame advantage.

And a break of 73 after Wakelin had fouled while attempting to position the rest enabled him to secure only his second ever win in the event.

“There are things to work on but I am happy with the win,” Brecel told BBC Sport.

“From November until now there have been a lot of big tournaments so I decided to put in the work.”

While Wakelin was making his debut at the Masters, his priorities in the build-up have been elsewhere after his partner Lucy gave birth to their first child eight weeks early.

The 32-year-old, who reached the final of the International Championship this season, crafted breaks of 67 and 69 during a battling display in which he came back from 3-1 down to trail 4-3, before eventually running out of steam.

“I didn’t play particularly well but in all honesty the last few weeks of my life have been very hectic and the last thing on my mind was practicing for this tournament,” he added.

China’s Zhang, 33, was making only his second appearance at the Masters and has exited in the first round on both occasions.

However, the world number 10 will head away from the tournament wondering just how he contrived to lose against Wilson.

Aside from the match score, almost every key statistic around safety play, table time and potting was in his favour.

However, Zhang also managed seven unforced errors to Wilson’s three, and they ultimately proved extremely costly.

Given some of the opportunities that came his way, he could and perhaps should have been the player heading into the interval with a healthy lead.

And while he did fight back, the moments of misfortune and carelessness kept coming.

In the seventh frame he went in off a red, having potted a red into the same right middle pocket, and in the ninth he missed a black, when it appeared he could steal the frame from Wilson to go ahead for the first time in the match.

“Kyren is a very strong opponent. I needed a very strong performance and I was a little bit unlucky,” Zhang added.