Ronnie O'Sullivan tells Kyren Wilson where he went wrong before Lei Peifan loss (2025)

Kyren Wilson was expected to breeze past Lei Peifan in the first round of the 2025 World Snooker Championship, but was instead dumped out of the tournament in a final frame decider

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Ronnie O'Sullivan has highlighted what he believes was the decisive factor behind Kyren Wilson's unexpected early exit from the 2025 World Snooker Championship.

As the reigning titleholder, Wilson was tipped to breeze past Lei Peifan - one of the tournament's lowest seeds - but suffered a narrow 10-9 loss.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, O'Sullivan offered some insight as to why the 33-year-old stumbled. He emphasised that Wilson's performance wasn't bad - he was simply outshone. "I don't think Kyren played that bad, I just think the other guy played well," The Rocket, 49, said.

"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."

O'Sullivan commended Lei for his calmness under pressure and called his poise a "huge asset". However, he attributed Wilson's downfall to a flaw in his pre-tournament approach.

"I always text Kyren through the season because I get on quite well with him," the seven-time champion 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 loss marks him as the 20th player to fall to the infamous 'Crucible Curse' - a phenomenon that's seen every first-time champion since 1977 fail to retain the trophy in the following year.

The World No. 2 trailed 2-0 early on but responded to take a 6-3 lead into the mid-session break. The momentum shifted drastically after the interval, with Lei winning six consecutive frames to move within one of triumph.

Wilson fought back once more to level the contest at 9-9, but the debutant from China sealed the match with a superb 66 break in the final frame. Lei now awaits the winner of Jak Jones vs. Zhao Xintong - the latter returning to the Crucible after serving a 20-month ban following a betting scandal.

As for O'Sullivan, his tournament begins Tuesday against long-time rival Ali Carter. A win there would set up a round two clash with either Zhang Anda or Pang Junxu.

If the Wordsley native claims the title, it will mark his record-breaking eighth world crown - cementing him as the greatest of the modern era.