Exclusive: Gary Wilson Desperate to Find Happiness on the Baize After Years Of "Lost Searching"

Gary Wilson has revealed he has “chucked away” huge chunks of his career feeling “lost” with his game.

The Tyneside Terror had won three ranking titles in the previous two seasons heading into this campaign.

But a season to forget, where he has reached just one quarter-final and won just two ranking matches since the UK Championship in November, saw him fall out of the elite top-16 at the final cut off before the World Championship.

That means Wilson is at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield needing to win two qualifiers to reach the Crucible.

“I can’t even count on one hand the amount of games that I’ve played pretty well in,” Wilson told SportsBoom.com. 

“There have been less than five where I have played decent in."

“When I look back at it, I’ve spent so much time messing about not giving myself a real chance in matches."

“I just want to get to a point where I’m more settled which I know 90 per cent of the players are. They might lose, they might have a bad season but when they’re playing they know what they’re doing and their routine."

“I don’t half the time. I get myself so lost with it I’m changing my action mid frame, mid match and at times I’ve chucked away sections of my career."

"Half the problem is I’ve tried so much over the years that I’ve ended up in a place now where I’m lost quite generally and constantly searching for things."

“I’ve changed things left, right and centre all the time. I do it mid match all the time.”

“My overriding goal is to try and feel content in my game and try to stop all this searching and looking for things all the time.”

PROVEN WINNER

Wilson often jokes that he sounds negative in interviews without meaning to. But he has always been brutally honest about the way he feels about his own game.

At his best he is someone who can rattle off frames in quick succession with blistering scoring and is a proven champion.

Asked if there is an added weight of expectation because he added silverware to his CV in recent years, Wilson said: “No, not consciously.”

“Subconsciously maybe I’ve thought that I’ve won a few and wonder why I can’t consistently make the latter stages of events.”

“But I’ve got no god given right to go far in any event unless I work hard and play well. It’s as simple as that.”

“I’m not trying to sound negative, but I’ve not played consistently well in the tournaments that I've won so I’ve still got things to prove to myself and maybe others who doubt how good you can be as well.”

“I go through phases of thinking like that and thinking I’ve got nothing to prove and I don’t care.”

“When you're thinking about all of that it’s tough to enjoy the game. I've been struggling to enjoy the game as it is this season.”

“I started half enjoying it again earlier this year. I put the work in and showed myself I could still play a little bit. But, it was all a little bit too late to protect my 16 spot.”