Emotional Kyren Wilson hails family support after first World Snooker Championship title

Kyren Wilson turned his first world snooker title into a family affair after withstanding a stirring fightback from qualifier Jak Jones to triumph 18-14 at the Crucible.

Wilson emerged from his most difficult year in a decade to lift the famous silver trophy with his wife Sophie and young sons Bailey and Finley looking on.

The 12th seed had reached a solitary semi-final at the German Masters this year, but it was put in sharp perspective by his wife being diagnosed with epilepsy, while Bailey suffered with illness and also needed an operation on a broken nose. He also revealed his parents had mortgaged their house to allow him pursue his dream of being a professional.

"It was so nice to have all the family there and let out our emotions," said Wilson, who celebrated his match-winning break with a roar of delight and struggled to contain his emotions as the magnitude of his success began to dawn.

"We've been on a rollercoaster journey since the age of six. We’ve sacrificed everything all together and this is just a lovely thing to be able to celebrate with them now."

Wilson was made to work overtime against Jones, who had looked down and out after losing the first seven frames of the match but staged a remarkable comeback and twice reduced the deficit to three frames during a rousing afternoon session.

After sharing the first two frames of the evening, a dramatic 28th saw Jones, who sunk seeds Zhang Anda and Judd Trump on his marathon route to the final, clear the colours to force a re-spotted black, only for Wilson to move one frame away with an audacious pot off three cushions.

But Jones proved far from beaten, ensuring a mid-session interval by taking the next with a break of 67, followed by a break of 96 that briefly