Wilson aiming to break his duck in Edinburgh final
Gary Wilson hopes his natural instincts can lead him to a maiden ranking title at the Scottish Open.
The world No. 31 has suffered painful past defeats with silverware in sight after losing in both the 2015 China Open and 2021 British Open finals.
But the Tyneside Terror is hungry to make it third time lucky after beating talented Thai potter Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 6-4 in yesterday’s first semi-final in Edinburgh.
“It’s like swings and roundabouts for me,” admitted the 37-year-old.
“I think I’ve got to the point in my career now that I’m old enough and stupid enough to just accept I need to play on instinct a lot more and see what that brings.
“I completely played on instinct and I enjoyed it a little bit.
“I thought to myself that even if I lost there at least I was enjoying it.
“I’m over the moon to have a good run and to be playing like that again.
“I’m really enjoying playing on the main stage more and more.
“I’d like to continue to play like that but every time I do I make daft mistakes and miss easy balls.
“You end up trying harder ad changing your technique to try and be a bit more solid.”
From 2-2 Wilson belted in a barrage of big breaks as he booked his spot in the showpiece final in some style.
Runs of 130, 122, 115, 88 and 64 did the damage as he kept himself in contention of banking the tidy £80,000 top prize.
Un-Nooh had a great run himself and the former Shoot Out winner dumped out UK champion Mark Allen and former world champion Judd Trump on his way to the final four.
Wilson added: “When you’re lower down the rankings it means a lot to you.
“You struggle to play on instinct because when you chuck frames away playing like that you automatically tell yourself you have to really zone in and tighten up and it probably makes me worse.
“I’ve probably played most of my career unnaturally if I’m honest.
“It’s a really hard thing to rely on instinct and play like that.
“To abandon all the years of trying to play with a solid technique is very tough.”
Wilson ended reigning world champion and world
No. 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan’s title bid earlier in the week.
And the Rocket has backed him to land multiple ranking crowns after producing his brilliant best this week.
“If I was his coach
I’d tell him to play with abandonment,” said the record 39-time ranking-event winner.
“He’s a dangerous player when he plays like that.
“He could get his name on a trophy many times. If he plays like that trophies are coming.”