Jak Jones has done it again on a big stage. The Welshman beat Judd Trump at the British Open to reach the final against Mark Selby, and it was a win built on early control, recovery under pressure and one crucial miss in the ninth frame.
Jones led 3-1, saw Trump pull back to 3-3, then moved 5-3 ahead before closing out the match when Trump missed a green on the colours. It was another reminder that Jones can hold himself together when the pressure rises, even if he has not been in these positions all that often.
Jones finds a way through
Jones said he started well before the interval, but admitted he then began to miss a few. That is probably the right way to view his performance: not flawless, but resilient enough to keep the match under control when Trump threatened to turn it around.
He also made clear that this stage is still relatively new to him. Jones said he cannot claim to be in this position often, especially compared with Trump, and that showed in the way the match opened up once the contest settled into a more familiar battle of nerve and judgement.
What matters most is that Jones stayed in the frame after Trump levelled at 3-3. From there, moving 5-3 ahead gave him the breathing space he needed, and the ninth frame finished with the kind of error elite players rarely forgive.
Selby waits after another composed win
Mark Selby will provide the final test after defeating Liam Highfield 6-3. Highfield was in his first ranking event semi-final, and Selby made sure that inexperience did not become the story of the night.
Selby said it was a tough match and praised Highfield's safety, adding that he could not remember him playing a poor safety shot all the way through the contest. That kind of respect says a lot about how hard the semi-final was, even if Selby found a way through with the steadier finish.
For Selby, the final also carries a wider significance. He said that if he wins the title he could move from fourth to second in the rankings, and he admitted that when he was a 16-year-old kid in 1999, he would have said “no chance” if told he would reach 40 ranking finals. Now he is one win away from a landmark 40th ranking event final becoming something even more memorable.
For Jones, the challenge is simpler and bigger at the same time. After losing the 2024 World Championship final to Kyren Wilson, he now has another chance to turn a major final into a statement result. This time, he goes in with real momentum rather than just hope.
