Wilson

It has been a tough few months for Wilson after the cue he used to win the world title in May 2024 was damaged while being refurbished at the start of this season, with a six-inch piece being snapped off the end.

Wilson called the incident “a freak accident totally out of my control” and one that had “ruined the cue I was conquering the world with”.

Following his first-round UK loss to Slessor, Wilson said: “I’m just very lost. You were very close to seeing someone have a mental breakdown out there.

“I wanted the world to swallow me up as soon as I missed the pink in the first frame. It’s been a nightmare. I gave it my all – but I just knew I couldn’t win.”

Since then, he has begun using a new cue, but only reached round three at the Scottish Open, losing to world number 68 Chang Bingyu.

Wilson, 34, did also play in the Championship League earlier this month – and looked back to his best at Alexandra Palace in his first match in a Triple Crown event since that loss to Slessor.

“It has been a really tough time so I thank you for all your love you have given me, it really lifted me,” Wilson told the London crowd after Tuesday’s match.

“This venue can bring the best out of you. I still have a lot of time in this game so hopefully I can conquer this venue for a long time.”

On his cue woes at the UK Championship, Wilson added: “I had to put a ferrule and a tip on the cue on the day of my first-round match and it got to boiling point when I felt I had let people down.

“I had a bit of a hissy fit at the end of that game. I’m over that now and I’ve got a cue that I’ve been playing with since the Scottish Open and I’m very happy with it.”

Wilson, who will meet either Australia’s Neil Robertson or England’s Chris Wakelin in the next round, added: “When you go out there and can’t trust what you’re using, you have no chance.

“I think this cue is better because there’s a bit more power, a bit more whip and it’s about learning how to control that – I’ve had a month to get used to it, I’ve had to modify my cue action.”

Si, 23, played his part in an entertaining game with a break of 97 in frame three, although he was unable to join compatriots Wu Yize, Xiao Guodong and Zhao Xintong in the last eight.

Are top-drawer college football teams and their name, image and likeness collectives simply trying to protect themselves from willy-nilly transfers or are they bullying players to stay put with threats of lawsuits?

Adding liquidated damage fee clauses to NIL contracts became all the rage in 2025, a year that will be remembered as the first time players have been paid directly by schools. But some experts say such fees cannot be used as a cudgel to punish players that break a contract and transfer.

It’s no surprise that the issue has resulted in a lawsuit — make that two lawsuits — before the calendar flipped to 2026.

Less than a month after Georgia filed a lawsuit against defensive end Damon Wilson II to obtain $390,000 in damages because he transferred to Missouri, Wilson went to court himself, claiming Georgia is misusing the liquidated damages clause to “punish Wilson for entering the portal.”

Wilson’s countersuit in Boone County, Mo., says he was among a small group of Bulldog stars pressured into signing the contract Dec. 21, 2024. The lawsuit also claims that Wilson was misused as an elite pass rusher, that the Georgia defensive scheme called for him to drop back into pass coverage. Wilson, who will be a senior next fall, led Missouri with nine sacks this season.

Georgia paid Wilson $30,000, the first monthly installment of his $500,000 NIL deal, before he entered the transfer portal on Jan. 6, four days after Georgia lost to Notre Dame in a College Football Playoffs quarterfinal.

Bulldogs brass was not pleased. Wilson alleges in his lawsuit that Georgia dragged its feet in putting his name in the portal and spread misinformation to other schools about him and his contractual obligations.

“When the University of Georgia Athletic Association enters binding agreements with student-athletes, we honor our commitments and expect student-athletes to do the same,” Georgia spokesperson Steven Drummond said in a statement after the school filed the lawsuit.

Wilson’s countersuit turned that comment on its head, claiming it injured his reputation because it implies he was dishonest. He is seeking unspecified damages in addition to not owing the Bulldogs anything. Georgia’s lawsuit asked that the dispute be resolved through arbitration.

A liquidated damage fee is a predetermined amount of money written into a contract that one party pays the other for specific breaches. The fee is intended to provide a fair estimate of anticipated losses when actual damages are difficult to calculate, and cannot be used to punish one party for breaking the contract.

Wilson’s case could have far-reaching implications because it is the first that could determine whether schools can enforce liquidated damage clauses. While it could be understandable that schools want to protect themselves from players transferring soon after receiving NIL money, legal experts say liquidated damage fees might not be the proper way to do so.