Jak Jones
Quick Facts
Biography
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.
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. 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. 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.
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. Two other last 32 defeats saw Jones finish 75th on the PTC Order of Merit.
2012/2013 season
Jones played in seven out of twelve PTC events during the 2012/2013 season and could only win a total of three matches to be ranked 106th on the Order of Merit. 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 2013/2014 season.
2013/2014 season
Jones had a miserable 2013/2014 season as he lost all 16 matches he played, to finish ranked world number 128.
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. 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. He would later finish 67th on the Order of Merit. 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. 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. 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.
2015/2016 season
Jones did not play in a single professional event during the 2015/2016 season, but by beating Jamie Rhys Clarke 7–4 in the final of the 2016 EBSA European Championship he earned a two-year main tour card.
Performance and rankings timeline
Tournament | 2010/ 11 | 2011/ 12 | 2012/ 13 | 2013/ 14 | 2014/ 15 | 2016/ 17 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ranking | UR | 81 | UR | UR | 128 | UR | |||
Ranking tournaments | |||||||||
Riga Masters | Tournament Not Held | MR | 2R | ||||||
Indian Open | Tournament Not Held | LQ | LQ | A | |||||
World Open | LQ | A | A | LQ | NH | LQ | |||
Paul Hunter Classic | Minor-Ranking Event | 1R | |||||||
Shanghai Masters | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | A | |||
European Masters | Tournament Not Held | LQ | |||||||
English Open | Tournament Not Held | 4R | |||||||
International Championship | Not Held | A | LQ | A | 2R | ||||
Northern Ireland Open | Tournament Not Held | A | |||||||
UK Championship | LQ | A | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | |||
Scottish Open | Not Held | MR | Tournament Not Held | 1R | |||||
German Masters | LQ | A | A | LQ | WD | LQ | |||
Welsh Open | LQ | A | A | 1R | 1R | ||||
Gibraltar Open | Tournament Not Held | ||||||||
Players Championship Grand Final | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | ||||
China Open | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | ||||
World Championship | LQ | A | A | LQ | LQ | ||||
Former ranking tournaments | |||||||||
Wuxi Classic | Non-Ranking | A | LQ | LQ | NH | ||||
Australian Goldfields Open | NH | A | A | LQ | 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 Held | means an event was not held. | |||
NR / Non-Ranking Event | means an event is/was no longer 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. |
Tournament wins
Amateur
- European Under 19 Snooker Championship – 2010
- European Snooker Championship – 2016