Jak Jones fought heroically against Kyren Wilson. Even though he lost the first session 7-1, the Welshman came back and closed to within 3 games of the new champion, maintaining the suspense until the end, despite the defeat.
Jones was defeated 18-14 in his first point tournament final, right in front of his mother, who was watching him live in a match for the first time. Jak will enter the world top 16 and has promised those close to him that he will win the Crucible title for them, not being too affected by the setback.
“I have to congratulate Kyren’s family. And him. He deserves so much today’s win. It was an incredible tournament for me. A month ago I almost lost in the first match of the qualifiers.
(no at 7-1 it seemed hard to believe you’d come back. How much hope did you come into the last session with?) I just thought I’d fight and give it my all. Kyren Wilson is a complete player, very hard to beat in any department. It wasn’t meant to be for me today.
(not a career-changing situation because you’ll end up in the top 16 in the world.) Let’s hope it changes everything for me and stays that way from now on. Even grow up.
Thanks to my parents and wife. My mum is in a snooker arena for the first time because she can’t contain her emotions to watch me live. Maybe one day I will give them the trophy. I’ll do it for them”Jak Jones said immediately after the game.
Who is Jak Jones, the “Silent Assassin” of the World Snooker Championship Final
The 30-year-old Welshman was only on the main draw at the World Cup for the second time, in 9 other times he was eliminated from the qualifications. Nothing announced such a path, in the context in which, until the beginning of the current season, he had qualified only twice beyond the eighths of a tournament on points.
Jak Jones would probably never have ended up playing snooker if fate hadn’t brought him together with 1994 World Cup semi-finalist Darren Morgan on holiday in Corfu.
The ex-Welsh player, now 57, noted that his compatriot was “cleaning” the pool table in a pub in Greece while on holiday with his parents, and was curious to know if he had ever played snooker , inviting him to the club where he was training, after the end of his leave.
Without being very convinced that he could make a career out of snooker, Jak Jones followed Morgan’s advice, and a few years later he became European U19 Champion, at just 16 years old, in Malta. The Welshman turned professional in 2010, but in his first year at the highest level he managed to win just one match, losing his professional player status.
In 2013, he returned to the top 64 in the world, but even this time the level was much too high for what he could bring to the snooker table: only 3 successes in the season, and in 2015 he lost the status of player for the second time top 64 (after a winless season). He regained his professional player’s license in 2016 and since then has managed to remain in the top 64 year after year, although he has never climbed higher than 35th in the world.
But what happened this season for Jones to perform at such a level at Crucible 2024? Even his mentor, Darren Morgan, tells us.
“I felt from the beginning that it could be Jak’s turn, there is no player in the world who is currently playing better than him. As long as he stays calm and focused, he’s nearly impossible to beat.
He is very quiet and reserved and has started doing all the right things since he got married. He’s like a racehorse, he works and works at the snooker table. If you practice and practice and practice, the door will open and that’s exactly what is happening now with Jak“, the former Welsh player told the BBC.
Only twice in the history of the World Cup has a player from the qualifiers won the trophy: Terry Griffiths (1979) and Shaun Muprhy (2005). He became the 6th Welshman to play with the trophy on the table at the Crucible, after Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths, Doug Mountjoy, Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens.
