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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