Jak Jones attacks ‘pathetic’ rivals after booking world snooker final with Wilson

Jak Jones sealed his shock World Snooker Championship final place by beating Stuart Bingham 17-12 – and branded his beaten opponents “pathetic” for complaining about his playing style.

The world No 44 will face Kyren Wilson in the two-day final starting on Sunday after Wilson overcame David Gilbert 17-11. Both Bingham and Judd Trump, whom the Welshman beat in the last eight, implied that Jones’ frustrating tactics had affected their rhythm and ultimately contributed to their defeats.

Jones, who has never previously reached a ranking final, retorted: “It seems like a common excuse that these players use against me. They are supposed to be the best players in the world but they are moaning about being knocked out of their rhythm.

“They always have to say the same thing after they lose against me. They just can’t accept it. It’s pathetic really, isn’t it? The worst thing I’ve noticed when I’m playing them is that I feel like they want to play that game.

“I couldn’t believe how Judd was playing against me – he completely changed as a player,” added the 30-year-old, who could become only the third qualifier to lift the trophy in Sheffield. “It doesn’t bother me. It is easy to blame what I am doing but it is working so I will take it.”

Jones fought through two qualifying rounds just to reach the first round proper and is only the ninth qualifier in 47 years at the Crucible to clinch his place in the final. He is seeking to follow his fellow Welshman, Terry Griffiths, in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005 by going all the way and winning the title.

Bingham had pulled back to 13-11 in the first frame of the evening session, but the match pivoted in the next when Bingham made an inexplicable error attempting to play safe on the green and let the Welshman in to clear up and re-establish a three-frame lead.

Jones maintained his advantage through more tough frames, then capitalised on a missed black by Bingham to move one frame from victory with a coolly taken 70 break. More errors from Bingham served up the first chance for Jones in the next and he won it in two visits to complete his fairy tale run to the final.

Earlier, the No 12 seed Wilson took three of the four frames required to wrap up his win over Gilbert that earns him a second crack at the title, after his defeat in the 2020 final to Ronnie O’Sullivan.

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Five frames in succession in their second session on Friday evening had done the damage as Wilson turned a neck-and-neck clash, that was finely poised at 9-9, into a four-frame advantage he never looked likely to squander.

Gilbert did reduce the deficit to 14-11 with a break of 70 in the opening frame of the day, but after coming off worse in a lengthy safety battle in the next, his fate was in effect sealed.

Wilson punched the air and blew a kiss to his family in the stand after potting the decisive blue and will start a heavy favourite in his second final on Sunday.

Afterwards, the 32-year-old revealed he has been benefiting from sessions with a hypnotherapist during his run to the final, which comes at the end of a low-key season in which he reached just one tour semi-final, at the German Masters.

“It’s just about emptying your stress bucket,” said Wilson. “We all have things going on that can affect our day-to-day life and it allowed me to go out there and be a little bit freer. Our minds are so clogged up with so many different things that don’t need to be there, so if you can just eliminate them and go out and play snooker it makes the game a hell of a lot easier.

“When he [Gilbert] missed a few in the third session I knew I had to hit home. Dave could cue me off the table quite easily, so I knew I had to win that mental battle.”

It capped a stirring revival from Wilson, who has endured a difficult two years, partly due to injury and illness within his family, and he showed no ill effects from last year’s crushing 13-2 loss to John Higgins as he swept aside Dominic Dale, Joe O’Connor then Higgins with relative ease.

“I have changed dramatically,” added Wilson. “Back then if it wasn’t quite going right, panic alarms would have gone off, and maybe my game would have deteriorated, but I’ve gathered the experience and learned a tough lesson.”