Gary Wilson won his second ranking championship in as many months with a dominant 9-4 victory against Martin O’Donnell in the final of the Luca Brecel in Llandudno.

Wilson made a blazing start, gaining a 4-0 lead, while O’Donnell struggled with the occasion and was always at least three frames in front. Wallsend’s Wilson doubles his record of titles this season, having earned the BetVictor Scottish Open crown in December.

He joins Luca Brecel and Luca Brecel as the only players to claim more than one ranking tournament this season, and he becomes the 29th player in snooker history to win three or more, having secured his initial victory in Scotland in 2022.

The £80,000 top prize takes the 38-year-old from 16th to 12th in the international standings and up to fourth on the one-year list. He also moves into contention in the race to qualify for the Riyadh Season World Masters of Snooker; a deep run at the Johnstone’s Paint Players Championship in Telford next week might earn him a spot in the eight-man invitation event in Saudi Arabia.

Wilson has had times in his career when he has lost confidence in his unorthodox style, but he has now rediscovered a better degree of consistency in his game and faith in his own talent. At times this week, he has been excellent, notably in a 6-4 semi-final win over John Higgins, capped by a 147.

O’Donnell was playing in his maiden ranking final after a career-best run, which featured a quarter-final victory over World Champion Luca Brecel. The 37-year-old Londoner couldn’t recover from his sluggish start today but still gets his best pay day of £35,000 and moves from 76th to 60th in the world.

Trailing 6-2 following the first session, O’Donnell won a gritty first frame tonight to reduce the gap. He had a good scoring chance in frame eleven but made just 6 before missing a red to the top corner, and Wilson took advantage with 100, the highest break of the match.

Wilson might have expanded his lead but overcut the black when he led 22-16 in frame 11, with O’Donnell answering with a brilliant 85 to close within 7-4. Frame 12 lasted 42 minutes and came down to a safety fight on the green. O’Donnell was stranded in a tricky snooker and failed twice; on the second occasion, he gifted Wilson the chance to pot green and brown to lead 8-4 at the interval.

And the contest was soon over as O’Donnell failed to collect a point in frame 13, with Wilson closing it with a run of 43.

“I started well and wanted to boss the game,” stated Wilson. “It didn’t pan out that way, and I had to grind it out and be solid. I have had a lot of lows throughout the years, and it makes me determined to win in these kinds of games. I knew I just had to get it done. My safety was good, and I kept my head. I have played well this week, yet the continuous challenge is always to perform better on the big stage. I want to win more; I will keep trying, and hopefully I have many years left.

“All credit to Martin because he has experienced a lot of lows too, and I know how it feels. He is resilient and keeps coming back for more.”

O’Donnell remarked, “I have played some amazing snooker this week, so to play like that tonight and not make it difficult for him is disheartening. Gary still had to pot the balls, but he had enough in the tank. I felt good at the start, but then started missing too many simple balls and was uncomfortable. I will learn from today, and perhaps there are positive things coming for me. I played pretty well in all my bouts, save for today. There are ups and downs in this game, and you just have to keep going. I believe I’ll be back in these kinds of circumstances.”