Tour Championship: Kyren Wilson says it has been important to talk about son's health issues

Kyren Wilson has two sons, Bailey and Finley, with his wife Sophie

Kyren Wilson says speaking openly about his son Bailey's health issues has "freed" him up to enjoy playing snooker again.

The Englishman, 31, beat Ali Carter 10-4 in the quarter-finals of the Tour Championship in Hull on Tuesday.

Five-year-old Bailey first became ill in January, initially with a suspected brain or back tumour, but that diagnosis proved to be wrong.

Wilson will face China's Ding Junhui in the semi-finals on Friday.

He told the World Snooker Tour: "We had a couple of days to wait for an MRI scan to find out whether it was a tumour, and that was very tough.

"It now seems more likely it could be something like Crohn's Disease, though we are still not sure.

"But before I left home he was running about and seems to have turned a corner so that was great to see.

"It's important to talk about these things sometimes rather than bottle them up.

"I have sometimes felt that snooker is the be-all and end-all, but this has made me realise how lucky I am, and it has freed me up to just enjoy the game."

World number seven Wilson made a break of 137 in the second frame as he raced into a 5-0 lead before ending the first session 6-2 ahead.

Fellow Englishman Carter, who won the German Masters in February, rallied after the interval but Wilson edged two tight frames to move 8-3 clear.

He then won two of the next three frames to seal victory and a last-four tie with Ding.

"One of my main goals for the season was to get into this tournament and now I have won a match in it for the first time," said Wilson.

The winner will pick up a first prize of £150,000 out of a total prize fund of £380,000.

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