Jak Jones

Jak Jones (born 29 July 1993) is a Welsh professional snooker player.

Jak Jones
Paul Hunter Classic 2016
Born (1993-07-29) 29 July 1993
Cwmbran, Wales
Sport country Wales
Professional2010/2011, 2013–2015, 2016–
Highest ranking71 (August–September 2019)
Current ranking 69 (as of 16 March 2020)
Career winnings£86,742
Highest break139:
2014 Shanghai Masters (qualifying)
Century breaks25
Best ranking finishLast 16 (2016 English Open, 2017 Shoot-Out, 2019 Riga Masters, 2019 International Championship)

Jones was born in Cwmbran, Wales. He became a professional in 2010 at the age of 16, by winning the 2010 European Under 19 Snooker Championship in Malta.[1]

Career

Professional debut

In his first year on the tour Jones could only win one match in his attempts to qualify for the seven ranking events.[2] He played in all 12 of the minor-ranking Players Tour Championship events throughout the year, with his best results being two last 32 defeats to be placed 85th on the Order of Merit.[3] 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.[2][4]

2011/2012 season

Jones could only enter PTC events since dropping of the tour and 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.[5] Two other last 32 defeats saw Jones finish 75th on the PTC Order of Merit.[6]

2012/2013 season

Jones played in seven out of twelve PTC events during the 2012–13 season and could only win a total of three matches to be ranked 106th on the Order of Merit.[7][8] 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.[7][9]

2013/2014 season

Jones had a miserable 2013–14 season as he lost all 16 matches he played, to finish ranked world number 128.[10][11]

2014/2015 season

Jones won his first match at a main tour event in 18 months in qualifying for the Australian Goldfields Open by edging past Joe O'Connor 5–4, but was beaten 5–1 by Nigel Bond in the subsequent round.[12] 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.[13] He would later finish 67th on the Order of Merit.[14] He couldn't win more than one match at any other event during the rest of the season until World Championship when he defeated Aditya Mehta 10–7 and Jack Lisowski 10–5.[12] This meant that Jones was just one victory away from qualifying for the biggest event on the snooker calendar and he recovered from 4–0 down against Ryan Day to level at 6–6. However, Jones would lose four frames on the trot to be beaten 10–6.[15] 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.[16]

2015/2016 season

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.[17]

2016/2017 season

Jones beat Jamie Cope 4–3 at the Riga Masters, before being thrashed 4–0 by Mark Williams. He defeated Brandon Sargeant 4–0 and Elliot Slessor 4–3 at the English Open and then recorded a shock 4–2 win over Ding Junhui, a player ranked 105 places above him, despite having a high break of 34.[18] Jones was 3–1 up on Anthony Hamilton in the fourth round, but lost 4–3.[19] At the International Championship he saw off Jimmy Robertson 6–4 and was then eliminated 6–2 by John Higgins in the second round. Jones had a good run at the Shoot-Out in which he exited to Shaun Murphy in the fourth round.[20]

He dropped off the tour at the end of the 2017/18 season but entered Q School in an attempt to win back a place, and secured his return to the tour at the first event.[21]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2010/
11
2011/
12
2012/
13
2013/
14
2014/
15
2016/
17
2017/
18
2018/
19
2019/
20
Ranking[22][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 3] [nb 3] [nb 2] 128 [nb 2] 77 [nb 4] 75
Ranking tournaments
Riga Masters[nb 5] Tournament Not Held MR 2R LQ LQ 3R
International Championship Not Held A LQ A 2R LQ LQ 3R
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR LQ LQ 1R
English Open Tournament Not Held 4R 1R 1R 1R
World Open LQ A A LQ NH LQ LQ 2R LQ
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held A 2R 1R 2R
UK Championship LQ A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 2R
Scottish Open Not Held MR Not Held 1R 1R 2R 1R
European Masters Tournament Not Held LQ 1R 2R 1R
German Masters LQ A A LQ WD LQ LQ LQ 1R
World Grand Prix Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Welsh Open LQ A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R
Shoot-Out Non-Ranking Event 4R 2R 3R 3R
Players Championship[nb 6] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held A 2R 1R 1R
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open Tournament Not Held MR QF A A A
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic Non-Ranking A LQ LQ Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open NH A A LQ LQ Not Held
Shanghai Masters LQ A A LQ LQ A LQ Non-Rank.
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 1R 2R A NR
Indian Open Tournament Not Held LQ LQ A LQ LQ NH
China Open LQ A A LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ 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 Heldmeans an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Eventmeans an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Eventmeans 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. The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)
  6. The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)

Career finals

Amateur finals: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 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. "2010 European Under 19 Championship". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    2. "Jak Jones 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    3. "Order of Merit 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    4. "Rankings after 2011 World Championship" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
    5. "Jak Jones 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    6. "Order of Merit 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    7. "Jak Jones 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    8. "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    9. "Einsle, Carrington and Jones Earn Tour Places". worldsnooker.com. World Snooker. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
    10. "Jak Jones 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
    11. "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
    12. "Jak Jones 2014/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
    13. "Drago and Borg bow out in Riga". The Times. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
    14. "European Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
    15. "Sweet 16 Through to Sheffield". World Snooker. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
    16. "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
    17. "Jak Jones is the NEW European Champion". European Billiards & Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
    18. "Cwmbran's Jak Jones shocks Ding Junhui as Mark Williams wins Gwent battle". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
    19. "Nottingham's Anthony Hamilton blames tiredness for English Open exit". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
    20. "Jak Jones 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
    21. http://www.worldsnooker.com/craigie-clinches-tour-card-as-pros-bounce-back/
    22. "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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