Jak Jones

Welsh hopes at the 2026 Welsh Open were extinguished in a single evening as Mark Williams, Jak Jones and Jackson Page all crashed out on Thursday.

Jak Jones believes he can build on his career-highlight run to the final of the World Snooker Championship. Jones’ dream of winning the tournament as a qualifier ended with an 18-14 defeat to Kyren Wilson at the Crucible on Sunday night, but not without plenty of drama after the Welsh player’s stirring fightback.

Jak Jones revealed a lack of sleep was behind the awful start to his World Snooker Championship final. Jones missed a golden chance to pile the pressure on his opponent Kyren Wilson as his improbable Crucible comeback came up short at the end of the first day of the final.

Jak Jones secured a solid base from which to chase his debut appearance in the final of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield. Kyren Wilson and David Gilbert also battled to stalemate at the Crucible.

Jak Jones faces a huge task before his first World Snooker Championship semi-final appearance – persuading his mother to watch. The Welsh potter – the world No 44 – earned the biggest win of his career when he turned an 8-8 overnight score against Judd Trump into a 13-9 victory on Wednesday to reach the last four for the first time.

Jak Jones looks determined to keep flying the flag for Wales deep into the second week at the World Snooker Championship. The Welsh star ensured it was a tense session for Judd Trump in their quarter-final at The Crucible in Sheffield after they finished level at 8-8 overnight.

Jak Jones admitted he was dismayed with his own performance as he let a semi-final place at snooker’s World Championship slip through his grasp. The cueman from Cwmbran bowed out at the quarter-final stage in Sheffield after losing 13-10 to Mark Allen in a match both players felt did not show the best of their talents.

Welsh qualifier Jak Jones showed gritty determination as he and Mark Allen remained locked together after a gruelling second session of their quarter-final clash at the Cazoo World Snooker Championship. Jones – the only Welshman to make the last eight after the exit of Mark Williams – has proved the surprise package of the tournament after knocking out Neil Robertson in the last round.

Llanelli’s Jamie Clarke will make his Betfred World Championship debut this weekend after three stunning qualifying victories in Sheffield. Clarke – ranked 89 in the world – entered the fray at the English Institute of Sport in the second qualifying round, dispatching Birmingham’s Mitchell Mann 6-1, before creating the shock of the next round in defeating de facto top seed Joe Perry, 6-4. In the final qualifying round, Thailand’s Sunny Akani stood between Clarke and a place at the Crucible Theatre – and a new two-year tour card.

Snooker’s second biggest tournament, the Betway UK Championship, starts today (Tuesday) in York, where the Welsh challenge is likely to be carried by very familiar faces. Simon Kendal-Williams examines why the new Welsh baize brigade have failed to march up the rankings. It was 20 years ago this week that two Welshmen faced each other in the final of the UK Championship, when the world was a very different place. Cardiff City and Swansea City languished in the Football League’s third and fourth tiers, respectively; Robbie Williams had just usurped Geri Halliwell at the top of the UK singles charts; The Sixth Sense and Fight Club ruled at the box office and Wales crashed out of their own Rugby World Cup against Australia with barely a whimper.

There will be no Welsh interest in the 19.com Northern Ireland Open as the tournament enters the last-32 stage. Only three of the 11 home-based players made it into round two in Belfast – and each was comfortably defeated. Jak Jones’ hopes of going deep into the tournament were clinically dashed by veteran Anthony Hamilton.

It is left to a trio of Welshmen to fly the flag in Belfast after all six of their remaining compatriots crashed out of the 19.com Northern Ireland Open. With Matthew Stevens, Jak Jones and Jackson Page safely negotiating their passage into round two on Monday, hopes were high for the half dozen in the bottom section of the first-round draw. But Lee Walker, Duane Jones, Jamie Clarke, Dominic Dale, Daniel Wells and Michael White all failed to make it through to the last-64 stage at the Waterfront Hall.