Jak Jones

This article is about the snooker player. For other people, see Jack Jones.

Jak Jones

Jones at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born	(1993-07-29) 29 July 1993 (age 31) Cwmbran, Torfaen, Wales
Sport country	Wales
Nickname	The Silent Assassin[1]
Professional	2010/2011, 2013–2015, 2016–present
Highest ranking	14 (May 2024)
Current ranking	18 (as of 16 December 2024)
Best ranking finish	Runner-up (2024 World Championship)

Jak Jones (born 29 July 1993)^[2] is a Welsh professional snooker player.

Jones is from Cwmbran, Torfaen in South Wales.^[2] He became a professional in 2010 at the age of 16 after winning the 2010 European Under-19 Snooker Championship in Malta.^[3]

He reached the final of the 2024 World Snooker Championship as a qualifier, losing 18–14 to Kyren Wilson in the final.

Career

Early years

Jones' talent was first spotted, by chance on a holiday in Corfu, by Darren Morgan, himself a 1994 Crucible semi-finalist, who was on his honeymoon there.^[4]

Jones first turned professional in 2010 after winning the European Under-19 Snooker Championships, defeating Anthony McGill 6–4 in the final.^[5] In his first year on the tour, Jones only won one match in his attempts to qualify for the seven ranking events.^[6] He played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship (PTC) events throughout the year, with his best results being two last 32 defeats, and was placed 85th on the PTC Order of Merit.^[7] He ended his debut season ranked world number 94, meaning he was relegated from the tour as he did not finish inside the top 64.^[6][8]

Having dropped off the tour, Jones could only enter PTC events for the next couple of seasons; he played in 10 of the 12. At the second event, he beat Anthony Hamilton 4–3, James Wattana 4–2 and Sam Craigie 4–1 to reach the last 16, where he was edged out 3–4 by Rory McLeod.^[9] Two other last 32 defeats saw Jones finish 75th on the PTC Order of Merit.^[10]

Jones played in seven out of twelve PTC events during the 2012–13 season. He won a total of three matches and was ranked 106th on the Order of Merit.^[11][12] He earned a place in the EBSA Qualifying Tour Play-offs by finishing number 2 in the rankings and winning the Scottish Amateur Open. He beat Elliot Slessor 4–2 and John Parkin 4–0 to claim a place back on the snooker tour for the 2013–14 season.^[11][13]

2013–2016

Jones lost all 16 matches he played in the 2013–14 season, meaning that he finished with a world ranking of 128.^[14][15]

In the 2014–15 season, he qualified for the Australian Goldfields Open by edging past Joe O'Connor 5–4: it was his first win on the main tour in 18 months. He was beaten 1–5 by Nigel Bond in the subsequent round.^[16] In the second round of the Riga Open he recorded the biggest win of his career by knocking out world number one Neil Robertson 4–3, before losing by a reverse of this scoreline to Sean O'Sullivan.^[17] He later finished 67th on the Order of Merit.^[18] He did not win more than one match at any other event during the rest of the season until the World Championship, when he defeated Aditya Mehta 10–7 and Jack Lisowski 10–5.^[16] This meant that Jones was just one victory away from qualifying for the biggest event on the snooker calendar. He recovered from 0–4 down against Ryan Day to level at 6–6. However, he then lost four frames in a row to be beaten 6–10.^[19] He fell off the tour at the end of the season as he was the world number 95, outside the top 64 who retain their places.^[20]

After falling off the professional tour, Jones did not play in a single professional event during the 2015–16 season, but by beating Jamie Clarke 7–4 in the final of the 2016 EBSA European Championship he earned a two-year main tour card.^[21]

2016–2020

Jones beat Jamie Cope 4–3 at the Riga Masters, before being thrashed 0–4 by Mark Williams. He defeated Brandon Sargeant 4–0 and Elliot Slessor 4–3 at the English Open, then recorded a shock 4–2 win over Ding Junhui, a player ranked 105 places above him, despite having a high break of 34.^[22] Jones was 3–1 up on Anthony Hamilton in the fourth round, but lost 3–4.^[23] At the International Championship, he saw off Jimmy Robertson 6–4 and was then defeated 2–6 by John Higgins in the second round. He reached the fourth round at the Shoot-Out, before being defeated by Shaun Murphy.^[24] At the end of the season, he reached his new highest world ranking of 77.^[25]

Despite his new ranking, Jones was unable to progress beyond the second round of any ranking event over the course of the 2017–18 season,^[26] He dropped off the tour but entered the 2018 Q School in an attempt to win back a place, and secured his return to the tour at the first event.^[27]

The highlights of his 2018–19 season were reaching the last 32 of the UK Championship where he lost 2–6 to Sunny Akani, and the Welsh Open where he lost 1–4 to Joe O'Connor.^[28] By the end of the season he had marginally improved his best season-end ranking to 75.^[29]

His best results in the 2019–20 season came early on, where he reached the last 32 of the Riga Masters (losing 4-2 to Matthew Selt) and the International Championship (losing 3–6 to Gary Wilson).^[30] He finished the season just outside the top 64 in 67th, but finished in second place (behind Jordan Brown) on the one-year ranking list for players ranked outside the top 64, thus receiving a new tour card.^[31]

2020–2022

During the 2020–21 season which was largely played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jones progressed to the quarter-finals of a ranking event for first time. At the 2020 English Open, he recorded victories over Elliot Slessor (4–1), Jack Lisowski (4–3), Ben Hancorn (4–2), and compatriot Matthew Stevens (4–3) before losing 1–5 to John Higgins in the quarter-finals.^[32] Although he was unable to match this result over the remainder of the season, he finished with a career-high ranking of 65.^[33]

In 2021–22, he continued to consistently qualify for events, and had a relatively strong finish to the season. At the first round of the Turkish Masters, he defeated Mark Allen 5–4 in a final-frame decider.^[34] He then defeated Hossein Vafaei 5–4 in the last 32, before losing to former world champion Shaun Murphy 3–5 in the last 16.^[35] At the next ranking event, the Gibraltar Open, he received a walkover against Vafaei, before defeating both Robbie Williams and Luca Brecel 4–3 in final-frame deciders.^[35] He then recorded impressive victories over former world champions Neil Robertson (4–1)^[35] and Stuart Bingham (4–0)^[35] to progress to his maiden ranking semi-final where he was defeated 4–2 by eventual tournament winner Robert Milkins.^[36]

2022–23 season

With a new high ranking of 41,^[37] he had a relatively quiet first half of the season, not progressing beyond the last 64 of a ranking event.^[38] In the second half of the season, he recorded back-to-back last 16 finishes at the Shoot Out and the Welsh Open, where he was defeated by Chris Wakelin and Pang Junxu respectively.^[38] At the 2023 World Snooker Championship, he entered the second round of qualifying where was drawn against Adam Duffy, winning 10–6. He then defeated Robbie Williams in the next round 10–9 in a final-frame decider, before being drawn against 2013 world finalist Barry Hawkins in the final round of qualifying. Jones defeated Hawkins 10–8 to progress to the final stage of the World Championship and the Crucible Theatre for the first time.^[39] Drawn against two-time world finalist Ali Carter in the first round, he recorded an impressive 10–6 victory to progress to the last 16 where he faced 2010 world champion Neil Robertson, one of the pre-tournament favourites.^[40] Jones led virtually throughout the match (the only point at which he trailed was at 5–4) and produced a shock 13–7 win to progress to the quarter-finals.^[41] Faced with Mark Allen in the quarter-finals, who Jones called the "player of the season" in the match build-up,^[42] Jones built a 4–2 lead, but despite a plucky performance and a match that lasted over eight hours, he was defeated 10–13.^[43]

Jones' walk-on music is "Dakota" by Stereophonics.^[44][45]

2023–24 season

Jones started the 2023–24 season with three victories from three in the Championship League ranking event to top his group in the first stage; he did not progress from his group in the second stage.^[46] He once again had a quiet first half of the season, with his best performance being a last 32 finish at the International Championship, where he lost 4–6 to Ronnie O'Sullivan.^[47] After a last 16 finish at his tournament, the Welsh Open (where he lost 0–4 to Dominic Dale),^[46] he entered qualifying for the World Snooker Championship. He had victories over compatriot Jamie Clarke (10–6) and Zhou Yuelong (10–4) to progress to the Crucible as a qualifier for the second consecutive season.^[36] He was drawn against world number 11 Zhang Anda in the last 32, whom he defeated 10–4.^[48] He then defeated 2023 semi-finalist Si Jiahui 13–9 in the last 16 to reach the quarter-finals for the second successive season.^[49] Facing Judd Trump – one of the pre-tournament favourites – in the quarter-finals, Jones completed a 13–9 victory to progress to the semi-finals of the World Championship for the first time.^[50] He overcame Stuart Bingham 17–12 in the semi-finals to reach the World Championship final^[51] where he lost 18-14 to Kyren Wilson.^[52]

Two of Jones's losing opponents, Trump and Bingham, criticised his playing style, complaining about his tactical approach. Jones responded that the comments were an excuse.^[53]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	2010/ 11	2011/ 12	2012/ 13	2013/ 14	2014/ 15	2016/ 17	2017/ 18	2018/ 19	2019/ 20	2020/ 21	2021/ 22	2022/ 23	2023/ 24	2024/ 25
Ranking[54][nb 1]	[nb 2]	[nb 3]	[nb 3]	[nb 2]	128	[nb 2]	77	[nb 4]	75	[nb 5]	65	41	35	14
Ranking tournaments
Championship League	Tournament Not Held									RR	RR	RR	2R	2R
Xi'an Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held													3R
Saudi Arabia Masters	Tournament Not Held													5R
English Open	Tournament Not Held					4R	1R	1R	1R	QF	1R	LQ	LQ	1R
British Open	Tournament Not Held										3R	2R	LQ	QF
Wuhan Open	Tournament Not Held												1R	2R
Northern Ireland Open	Tournament Not Held					A	2R	1R	2R	2R	2R	LQ	2R	2R
International Championship	Not Held		A	LQ	A	2R	LQ	LQ	3R	Not Held			2R	LQ
UK Championship	LQ	A	A	1R	1R	1R	2R	3R	2R	3R	2R	LQ	LQ	2R
Shoot Out	Non-Ranking Event					4R	2R	3R	3R	1R	3R	4R	1R	2R
Scottish Open	Not Held		MR	Not Held		1R	1R	2R	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R
German Masters	LQ	A	A	LQ	WD	LQ	LQ	LQ	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ
Welsh Open	LQ	A	A	1R	1R	1R	2R	3R	1R	3R	2R	3R	3R
World Open	LQ	A	A	LQ	NH	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	Not Held			1R
World Grand Prix	Not Held			NR	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	1R	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Players Championship[nb 6]	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
Tour Championship	Tournament Not Held							DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
World Championship	LQ	A	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	QF	F
Non-ranking tournaments
Shanghai Masters	Ranking Event							A	A	Not Held			A	1R
Champion of Champions	Not Held			A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF
Championship League	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	RR
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic	Non-Ranking		A	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open	NH	A	A	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters	LQ	A	A	LQ	LQ	A	LQ	Non-Ranking		Not Held			Non-Ranking
Paul Hunter Classic	Minor-Ranking Event					1R	2R	A	NR	Tournament Not Held
Indian Open	Not Held			LQ	LQ	A	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
China Open	LQ	A	A	LQ	LQ	LQ	2R	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 7]	Tournament Not Held				MR	2R	LQ	LQ	3R	Tournament Not Held
China Championship	Tournament Not Held					NR	LQ	LQ	1R	Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series	Tournament Not Held									RR	Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters	Tournament Not Held										3R	Not Held
Gibraltar Open	Tournament Not Held					A	2R	1R	1R	2R	SF	Not Held
WST Classic	Tournament Not Held											2R	Not Held
European Masters	Tournament Not Held					LQ	1R	2R	1R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship	A	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Not Held		LQ	Not Held
Haining Open	Tournament Not Held				MR	QF	A	A	A	NH	A	NH	A	NH

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament

NH / Not Held				means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				means an event is/was not a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event				means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.

1. It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
2. New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
3. He was an amateur
4. Players qualified through Q School started the season without ranking points
5. Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
6. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2014/2015)
7. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015)

Career finals

Ranking finals: 1

Legend
World Championship (0–1)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	2024	World Snooker Championship	Kyren Wilson	14–18

Amateur finals: 4 (2 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score
Runner-up	1.	2009	Junior Pot Black	Ross Muir	0–1
Runner-up	2.	2009	PIOS – Event 4	Jamie Jones	0–6
Winner	1.	2010	European Under-19 Snooker Championships	Anthony McGill	6–4
Winner	2.	2016	European Snooker Championship	Jamie Clarke	7–4

References

1. "Jones to keep calm and carry on to semi-finals". BBC Sport. 1 May 2024. Archived from the original on 3 May 2024. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
2. "Jak Jones bio". WPBSA. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
3. "2010 European Under 19 Championship". global-snooker.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/articles/c136r58mvyko ^{[bare URL]}
5. "European Snooker Championships U19 2010 – play-off results". snooker.pl. European Billiards & Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
6. "Jak Jones 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
7. "Order of Merit 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
8. "Rankings after 2011 World Championship" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
9. "Jak Jones 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
10. "Order of Merit 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
11. "Jak Jones 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
12. "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
13. "Einsle, Carrington and Jones Earn Tour Places". World Snooker. 28 April 2013. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
14. "Jak Jones 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
15. "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
16. "Jak Jones 2014/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
17. "Drago and Borg bow out in Riga". Times of Malta. 9 August 2014. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
18. "European Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
19. "Sweet 16 Through to Sheffield". World Snooker. 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
20. "World Rankings After 2015 Betfred World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
21. "Jak Jones is the new European Champion". EBSA.tv. 21 February 2016. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
22. Williams, David (13 October 2016). "Cwmbran's Jak Jones shocks Ding Junhui as Mark Williams wins Gwent battle". South Wales Argus. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
23. "Nottingham's Anthony Hamilton blames tiredness for English Open exit". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 12 April 2017.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
24. "Jak Jones 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
25. "Historic Seedings After 2017 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
26. "Jak Jones 2017/2018". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
27. "Craigie Clinches Tour Card As Pros Bounce Back". World Snooker. 19 May 2018. Archived from the original on 20 February 2020.
28. "Jak Jones 2018/2019". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
29. "Historic Seedings After 2017 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
30. "Jak Jones 2019/2020". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
31. "Season Points 2019/2020". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
32. "Jak Jones 2020/2021". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
33. "Historic Seedings After 2020 World Championship". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
34. "Mark Allen: Antrim man exits from Turkish Masters after 5–4 defeat by Jak Jones". BBC Sport. 9 March 2022. Archived from the original on 5 May 2024.
35. "Jak Jones 2021/2022". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
36. "Jak Jones: The unknown Welshman who shocked snooker now just two games away from a fortune". Wales Online. 2 May 2024.
37. "Rankings 2021/2022". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
38. "Jak Jones 2022/2023". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
39. "World Snooker Championship: Jak Jones beats Barry Hawkins in final qualifying round". BBC Sport. 11 April 2023. Archived from the original on 17 April 2023.
40. "'He's struggling isn't he?' – Flying Neil Robertson next for Jak Jones after stunning Ali Carter". Metro. 17 April 2023.
41. Livie, Alex (22 April 2023). "World Snooker Championship 2023: Neil Robertson felt Jak Jones 'was there for the taking' during shock loss". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 23 October 2023.
42. "Jak Jones unfazed by another big test in Mark Allen on dream World Championship debut". Metro. 25 April 2023.
43. Hemingway, Rob (26 April 2023). "Mark Allen outlasts Jak Jones to seal semi-final spot at World Championship, will face John Higgins or Mark Selby". Eurosport.
44. https://www.wst.tv/news/2023/april/18/crucible-walk-on-music/ ^{[bare URL]}
45. https://www.eurosport.com/snooker/world-championship/2023-2024/world-snooker-championship-live-si-jiahui-closes-gap-on-jak-jones-after-david-gilbert-seals-quarter-_sto10117296/story.shtml ^{[bare URL]}
46. "Jak Jones 2023/2024". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
47. Hassall, Paul (9 November 2023). "International Championship snooker 2023 recap - Ronnie O'Sullivan into quarter-finals, Mark Selby and John Higgins out". Eurosport. Archived from the original on 21 December 2023.
48. "Jak Jones – 'we dragged each other down'". SnookerHQ. 21 April 2024.
49. "Jak Jones – 'I don't know how I won'". SnookerHQ. 28 April 2024.
50. "Judd Trump dumped out of World Snooker Championship as Jak Jones reaches Crucible semi-finals". Sky Sports. 1 May 2024. Archived from the original on 2 May 2024.
51. "Snooker scores: Jak Jones beats Stuart Bingham in World Championship semi-final". Sporting Life. 4 May 2024. Archived from the original on 4 May 2024.
52. "Wilson beats tenacious Jones to win world title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
53. Steve Sutcliffe (5 May 2024). "Jones calls criticism of playing style 'pathetic'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 8 May 2024.
54. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

External links

• Jak Jones at the World Snooker Tour
• Jak Jones at snooker.org