Why Kyren Wilson would 'love to bite tip off' cue after resorting to banging floor during World Championship clash with Mark Allen

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There were curious scenes in the early exchanges of the World Championship second-round match between Mark Allen and Kyren Wilson, as the latter was seen jabbing the end of his cue against the floor.

Curious scenes as Wilson spotted repeatedly jabbing cue tip on the floor

Video credit: TNT Sports

The Warrior, who is looking to return to Crucible glory after claiming his maiden world title in 2024, was candid about struggling with his cue following his 10-7 first-round victory against debutant Stan Moody.

”Just hate my cue, fighting it all the time," Wilson said on Tuesday. "I changed my tip this evening. I had another cue up with me. I tried that at about 6pm. Paul Curran, who actually works with Mark Allen from Northern Ireland, he’d come and put me a new tip on.

”I just had to change something, because, yeah, sometimes just something can just give you a little bit of confidence."

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With his equipment woes in mind, some may have thought Wilson bashing his cue tip on the floor was a visible display of his frustrations, particularly after he had fallen a scrappy frame behind against Allen.

But TNT Sports commentator and retired professional Dominic Dale explained the logic behind Wilson's cue bashing.

"You can see Kyren in the background just tapping the tip, probably on the metal strip, the step," Dale observed.

'That is just cruel!' - Wilson suffers wildly unfortunate foul after fine pot

Video credit: TNT Sports

"It’s obviously much harder than the floor itself. He’s just trying to bed his tip in, because we know he’s also playing with a new-ish tip, so he’s trying to firm it up."

It is common for players to attempt to knock their tip in an attempt to bed it in to their cue, often done by banging it down with a cue ball.

It was a nightmare start for Wilson on Thursday evening as he went into the first interval 4-0 down, having struggled to make any kind of meaningful contribution during the opening exchanges, and scoring just one point between the third and fourth frames.

His struggles were epitomised when, after potting a great opening red for 1-19 when two frames down, he failed to follow up by sending a close-range brown into the jaws.

Wilson gestured to bite his cue tip following the miss, and Dale sympathised with his difficulties.

"I can’t help but wait for the season to finish for Kyren, so he can sort out the problems," Dale said. "He’d love to bite that tip off, but I’m sure it’s the cue and the tip, a combination of both. I don’t think he likes either."

'He'd love to bite that tip off' - Wilson displays cue frustration

Video credit: TNT Sports

TNT Sports expert Reanne Evans added: "It’s so hard to perform out there when you have no confidence in your cue or your game.

"He’s such a confident person, has really good self-belief, but if you can’t back it up it’s hard to keep on top.

"When you’re playing the top players, you come unstuck, you can’t miss greens off the spot and expect to win the frame.

"He keeps looking at his tip and his cue, he did say he tried to get a softer tip, but why would you change something you’re not used to."

Cue troubles have also plagued seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan during the start of his Crucible campaign.

The Rocket used two separate cues as he powered to a 10-2 victory against He Guoqiang in the first round, and spoke to TNT Sports about how a poor tip can damage a player's game.

'Can be a really stressful thing' - O'Sullivan explains changing cues in first-round win

Video credit: TNT Sports

"Tips can be a really stressful thing for a snooker player," O'Sullivan said. "I’m not the only one, we hear about mine more than others.

"I can’t play with a poor tip. I can have a great cue, terrible tip, and it’s a waste of time. Or I can have a half-decent cue with a great tip, and think, 'actually I can play'.

"Yesterday, I had no touch and feel with certain shots I just didn’t fancy, and it chips away at your confidence. I thought 'if I carry on with this, it gets worse and worse'."