Kyren Wilson beats Ali Carter to Shanghai Masters title
Lewis Watson 
The snooker season got up and running last week with the Shanghai Masters the first major event on tour, with Kyren Wilson pipping Ali Carter in the final.
Wilson, second in the world rankings, was favourite with UK betting sites going into the final but went into the week on the back of a tough end to last sesaon with the World Championships not going to plan.
Free Bets snooker expert Lewis Watson has taken a closer look at the opening tournament on this year's tour and how Wilson won.
"The Warrior" has started the 2025-26 season where he left off the last, with an impressive win in China.
After landing a career-best four televised titles last season, Kyren Wilson has continued this form into the 2025-26 campaign by landing an impressive Shanghai Masters title in China.
The former world champion banished Ali Carter 11-9 in a dramatic final in Shanghai, becoming a duel-winner of the event following his success in 2015 when it was registered as a ranking tournament.
En route to this title and the £210,000 prize fund, Wilson had to come through a tricky run of Si Jiahui, Ronnie O'Sullivan and reigning world champion Zhao Xintong, dropping just 13 frames before running into an in-form Carter in the final.
The pair were tied 9-9 after a back-and-forth final, but Wilson edged to 10-9 with a run of 86, and then was able to seal the victory in the 20th frame on a dramatic black.
"I knew I had to take out that clearance at the end," Wilson told World Snooker following his title win. "Fatigue was starting to slip in. I didn’t want to face Ali in a final frame because his success rate in deciders this week has been fantastic.
"He is a great champion and made it really difficult all day long. I had to summon up every ounce of concentration and composure to drop that long red in and clear up. I held myself together and then you saw all of the emotions."
“This is the biggest Chinese event we have and with the snooker market growing and growing, it is important to try and land these titles."
Wilson sits second in the world snooker rankings, ≈£700,000 away from the imperious Judd Trump who sits on top of the pack, but with a dominant season, who knows how close Wilson could get to the number one spot by the end of 2025.
Wilson is clearly still reeling from his early exit at this year's World Championship, but is seemingly using this as fuel for a successful second half of the calendar year.
"It was a massive kick in the teeth going out in the first round and I haven’t got that world title tag on my name this year, but I’ve carried on in the same form as last season."
"I felt like I didn’t even take part in the World Championship because I went out on the first day, which was really frustrating. I’ve had to wait a long time to get going again in professional competition but it was worth the wait."
