Ronnie O’Sullivan lets feelings known on Kyren Wilson’s performance against Lei Peifan

Kyren Wilson was dumped out of the World Snooker Championship in the first round on Saturday, and Ronnie O’Sullivan has identified the reason behind his shock exit

Ronnie O’Sullivan believes a key miscalculation led to Kyren Wilson’s surprising first-round defeat at the 2025 World Snooker Championship. Wilson, last year’s winner, was expected to breeze past Lei Peifan – one of the tournament’s lowest-ranked players – but was edged out 10-9 in a thrilling finish.

Speaking to TNT Sports afterwards, O’Sullivan shared his assessment of Wilson’s performance, stressing that his form wasn’t the issue. “I don’t think Kyren played that bad, I just think the other guy played well,” said the 49-year-old.

“Kyren just had one of those sessions tonight where nothing really went right for him. The balls were going against him, and that’s just the way it can go sometimes.”

He applauded Lei’s composure and praised his resilience, calling it a “huge asset”. Still, ‘The Rocket’ hinted that Wilson’s defeat may have stemmed from misjudged scheduling earlier in the season.

“I always text Kyren through the season because I get on quite well with him,” O’Sullivan revealed. “He has gone deep in a lot of tournaments, won a lot of tournaments… [but] I think he played in too many tournaments that he didn’t need to play in.”

He added: “To win this World Championship, alright you need to be playing well, but you need at some point, around February, remember that it is all about the World Championship. I saw him playing and then the next day he’s in Leicester for seven or eight days. I’d be thinking I want to go and chill out and put your cue down.

“It is a very fine line but you want to come here with a spring in your step and play yourself into form, rather than being at your limit, because it probably will go the other way. I think Kyren could have missed a few tournaments because he didn’t necessarily need to play then.

“This is the one you want to win, you want to come in a little undercooked. Take a month off from playing… You need to be feeling fresher for this tournament. You need to be feeling ready and strong for the quarters and the semis. To me, I think he’s played too much match snooker.”

Wilson’s early exit makes him the latest casualty of the notorious ‘Crucible Curse’, which has haunted first-time champions since the event’s 1977 move to Sheffield – none have managed to retain their title.

The World No. 2 began the match on shaky ground, losing the opening two frames. He rebounded strongly to lead 6-3 at the mid-session break, putting himself in a strong position. But his game unravelled in the evening session as Lei surged with six straight frames.

Though Wilson, 33, forced a decider by evening the score at 9-9, 21-year-old Lei held his nerve, producing a superb 66-point clearance to secure victory. The Chinese debutant will now face either Jak Jones or Zhao Xintong, who has just returned from a lengthy ban due to a betting-related suspension.

O’Sullivan’s own tournament begins with a clash against long-time rival Ali Carter on Tuesday. Should he prevail, a meeting with either Zhang Anda or Pang Junxu awaits.

A championship run this year would clinch O’Sullivan his eighth world title, making him the undisputed most decorated player of the modern snooker era.