Jak Jones
Jones at the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic
Born (1993-07-29) 29 July 1993
Cwmbran, Wales
Sport country Wales
NicknameThe Silent Assassin[1]
Professional2010/2011, 2013–2015, 2016–present
Highest ranking35 (June 2023)
Current ranking 41 (as of 18 December 2023)
Best ranking finishSemi-finals (2022 Gibraltar Open)

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

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.[2]

Career

Professional debut

In his first year on the tour, Jones only won one match in his attempts to qualify for the seven ranking events.[3] 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.[4] 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.[3][5]

2011/2012 season

Having dropped off the tour, Jones could only enter PTC events; 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.[6] Two other last 32 defeats saw Jones finish 75th on the PTC Order of Merit.[7]

2012/2013 season

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.[8][9] 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.[8][10]

2013/2014 season

Jones lost all 16 matches he played in the 2013–14 season, meaning that he finished with a world ranking of 128.[11][12]

2014/2015 season

Jones 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 5–1 by Nigel Bond in the subsequent round.[13] 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.[14] He later finished 67th on the Order of Merit.[15] 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.[13] This meant that Jones was just one victory away from qualifying for the biggest event on the snooker calendar. He recovered from 4–0 down against Ryan Day to level at 6–6. However, he then lost four frames in a row to be beaten 10–6.[16] 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.[17]

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.[18]

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, then recorded a shock 4–2 win over Ding Junhui, a player ranked 105 places above him, despite having a high break of 34.[19] Jones was 3–1 up on Anthony Hamilton in the fourth round, but lost 4–3.[20] At the International Championship, he saw off Jimmy Robertson 6–4 and was then defeated 6–2 by John Higgins in the second round. Jones reached the fourth round at the Shoot-Out, before being defeated by Shaun Murphy.[21]

Jones dropped off the tour at the end of the 2017/18 season 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.[22]

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
Ranking[23][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 3] [nb 3] [nb 2] 128 [nb 2] 77 [nb 4] 75 [nb 5] 65 41 35
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Tournament Not Held RR RR RR 2R
European Masters Tournament Not Held LQ 1R 2R 1R 2R 1R 1R LQ
British Open Tournament Not Held 3R 2R LQ
English Open Tournament Not Held 4R 1R 1R 1R QF 1R LQ LQ
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held 1R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held A 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R LQ 2R
International Championship Not Held A LQ A 2R LQ LQ 3R Not Held 2R
UK Championship LQ A A 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 2R 3R 2R LQ LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event 4R 2R 3R 3R 1R 3R 4R 1R
Scottish Open Not Held MR Not Held 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R LQ LQ LQ
World Grand Prix Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ 1R DNQ DNQ DNQ
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
Players Championship[nb 6] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Open LQ A A LQ NH LQ LQ 2R LQ Not Held
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship LQ A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ QF
Non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship A NH A A A A A A A Not Held LQ
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 NR
Paul Hunter Classic Minor-Ranking Event 1R 2R A NR Tournament Not Held
Indian Open Tournament 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 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 NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Haining Open Tournament Not Held MR QF A A A NH A Not Held
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. 1 2 3 New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  3. 1 2 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 Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
  7. ↑ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

Career finals

Amateur finals: 4 (2 titles)

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

    References

    1. ↑ "Mark Allen thrashes Stuart Bingham". sportinglife.com. Archived from the original on 22 April 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
    2. ↑ "2010 European Under 19 Championship". Global Snooker. Archived from the original on 5 May 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    3. 1 2 "Jak Jones 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    4. ↑ "Order of Merit 2010/2011". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    5. ↑ "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.
    6. ↑ "Jak Jones 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    7. ↑ "Order of Merit 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    8. 1 2 "Jak Jones 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    9. ↑ "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
    10. ↑ "Einsle, Carrington and Jones Earn Tour Places". worldsnooker.com. World Snooker. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
    11. ↑ "Jak Jones 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
    12. ↑ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
    13. 1 2 "Jak Jones 2014/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
    14. ↑ "Drago and Borg bow out in Riga". The Times. Retrieved 11 August 2014.
    15. ↑ "European Order of Merit 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
    16. ↑ "Sweet 16 Through to Sheffield". World Snooker. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
    17. ↑ "World Rankings After 2015 World Championship". World Snooker. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
    18. ↑ "Jak Jones is the NEW European Champion". European Billiards & Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
    19. ↑ "Cwmbran's Jak Jones shocks Ding Junhui as Mark Williams wins Gwent battle". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
    20. ↑ "Nottingham's Anthony Hamilton blames tiredness for English Open exit". Nottingham Post. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
    21. ↑ "Jak Jones 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
    22. ↑ "Craigie Clinches Tour Card As Pros Bounce Back". World Snooker. 19 May 2018.
    23. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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