Chris Wakelin labels Kyren Wilson v Shaun Murphy battle 'pathetic' - 'It's a bit of a sausage competition'
Updated 22/09/2025 at 19:57 GMT+1
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The fight to be the best with the rest is an insignificance, according to Chris Wakelin, who has suggested Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy should "grow up". Wakelin described the pair's fight to be considered the best player with the rest as "a sausage competition", insisting there are more important matters to worry about. All three players are in British Open action this week.
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Chris Wakelin has labelled the battle between Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy as "pathetic" and "a sausage competition".
Murphy and Wilson have been embroiled in a contest over who is the better player with the rest - the accessory used to aid players in striking the cue ball when their body position or table obstruction prevents a normal shot.
Wilson and Murphy are considered two of the better players at the art of using the rest, and have argued over which of them is superior.
But Wakelin ridiculed their ongoing competition.
"I don’t get involved in all that," he told Metro. "I think it’s quite pathetic, to be honest: 'I want to be the best at something. I want to be the best at something that probably doesn’t make any difference to your game.' I want to be the best all-rounder.
"It’s all a bit of a sausage competition, shall we say. I think the pair of them need to just grow up and find something else to talk about.
"Every time they get the rest out, they’re like, 'I’m the best because I’ve potted one with it.' There’s a life to be lived, guys. Get over it."
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Wakelin faces Wilson in the first round of the British Open on Monday night at the Centaur in Cheltenham and he acknowledged the difficulty of the match.
"There’s no easy games," Wakelin, who won the Snooker Shoot Out in 2023, said. "It was a hell of a season last year, but I didn’t have an easy draw in every single tournament.
"That’s not how it works now. You have to play difficult players in every single round. Obviously you don’t get much tougher than the world No. 2, the self-proclaimed best rest player in the world."
Murphy, who faces Ross Muir in the first round at the British Open, had a 100% pot success rate with the rest at the Masters in January, but later suggested Wilson was superior.
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"If I’m totally honest, it is a bit niche, but isn’t that what we’re here for? I would actually say Kyren is better with the rest than I am," said Murphy.
"I think he’s a better rest player than me. I think he has a much wider range, a much fuller range of shots that he can play.
"I might be a bit more accurate as the stats this week show, but he has a much bigger range of shots he can play, and I’m surprised he ever misses with it. He’s incredible."
Murphy was beaten by Jackson Page in the fifth round of the English Open last week, while Wilson fell to an unexpected defeat to Robbie Williams in the third round at the Brentwood Centre - a tournament won by Mark Allen.
Wakelin, meanwhile, lost in the fourth round against Wu Yize.
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