Key events
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-49) It won’t be at the forefront of his mind, but Jones is still on a maximum here, having racked up six reds and six blacks. A seventh red is dropped into the middle and he’s on the black again, albeit hampered slightly.
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-32) As Stephen Hendry points out, the balls are laid out here like a practice routine – but can Jak Jones navigate them? He opts for a tricky snick into the corner with easier reds on, but makes it and follows up with the black.
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-8) Wilson is forced to play safe and leaves Jones only a tricky long red – which he drains, and cannons into position on the black! Now, he’s the man in amongst the balls with a chance to build a lead …
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-0) Wilson misses a tentative long-range cut, leaving a red on for Jones. He has to power it in to get position, but gets nowhere near, clattering into the pack … but somehow leaving not a single red on.
The players are back out. Can Kyren Wilson get the frame he needs straight away, or does this final have another twist in it?
Ryan Day has won the shot of the championship for a cue-bending screw shot against Barry Hawkins. Fair play to him, but for me it had to be that John Higgins double to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat against Mark Allen.
“It’s a pretty intriguing watch this final … mainly because it’s so bad,” writes Andrew Harper. “It’s got to be up there as one of the worst quality finals in Crucible history. Ridiculous amount of unforced errors from both players throughout the match.”
True, although that’s perhaps to be expected when you have a favourite trying to win his first title, against an outsider who has never been in a match of this magnitude. And as previous years have shown, even the best players can melt into a sorry, pub-league level puddle in this arena.
Mid-session interval: Kyren Wilson is in his dressing room, eating fruit, drinking coffee and chatting to a guy who looks like he’s come dressed as David Brent. Time for some music; we’ll be back soon to see if and when Wilson can get the job done.
Jones wins the frame! Wilson 17-12 Jones All about whether Jak Jones can clear up from here. He can’t, missing on the blue – but the job’s done and we’ll have a mid-session interval at least. Not that Jones realises it – he goes back to his chair, breaking into a grin when he realises his mistake. Frame score: 8-88
Wilson 17-11 Jones (Frame score: 8-68) Jones splits the reds with gusto and has the frame at his mercy now. He rattles in an edgy blue, but otherwise holds it together and a routine red gets him over the line …
Wilson 17-11 Jones (Frame score: 8-38) Jones goes for broke, taking on a very tricky red to the middle pocket. And he pots it! Wow. He’s missed about 12 easier shots than that tonight. But no matter – he’s got a second chance to win the frame here.
Wilson 17-11 Jones (Frame score: 8-21) Could that be Jones’ last mistake of this final? Wilson has a routine red, then the black – but then he runs aground and has to feather the cueball down to the bottom cushion.
Wilson 17-11 Jones (Frame score: 0-21) It’s worth remembering that Jak Jones lost the first seven frames of this final; from that point, he’s leading 11-10. But now we see a key reason why he hasn’t cut any further into the deficit – he takes his eye off a pot on the black and it rattles in the jaws!
Wilson 17-11 Jones (Frame score: 0-12) Wilson misses a gettable cut to the middle, and goes in-off. Can Jones punish him? He’s off to a good start, punching in a long red and holding for the black …
Steve Davis described that as a “nightmare frame for both players” – both had chances to win, both thought they had lost it, and both made bizarre, hare-brained errors. It feels a lot closer than it now is; Wilson needs one more, and Jones can hope only to get to the mid-session interval from here.
Wilson wins the frame! Wilson 17-11 Jones Wilson breaks off and sits the black nicely on the cushion. Jones goes for the low-risk double, missing but leaving it safe. Wilson then makes a mess of his attempted safety, and Jones has a straight pot on the black. Huge chance … but it climbs out of the jaws! An exchange of safeties, and then Wilson plays the black off two cushions, and watches it roll into the bottom corner! A crazy fluke, and Kyren Wilson has one hand on the trophy. Frame score: 80-73
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 73-73) Jones goes slightly awry on the brown, having to play round the table – but he gets it done, pots blue and pink, and now has to rattle this black along the rail. He plays it slowly, which is brave in the circumstances, and pots it! A respotted black it is …
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 73-55) It’s the kind of pot Jones has been missing – but not this time! And he gets on the green – we could be on for a respotted black here …
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 73-46) Is Wilson hedging his bets here? A tentative effort at the yellow never looks like going in, but he does push pink and black towards the cushion. Wilson then gets out of a snooker with swerve, but leaves a tricky yellow along the bottom cushion for Jones …
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 73-46) Wilson gets Jones snookered, albeit with a one-cushion escape – but he misses the yellow! Foul and a miss, but he does the business at the second time of asking. Hang on – WTCBG?! – Jones goes in-off the yellow on his next attempt, and now can only tie the frame.
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 65-46) That was a nervy mistake from Wilson, and he has to clatter the baulk colours to escape. He leaves Jones a gettable long-range yellow … and it rattles in the merciless jaws of the corner pocket.
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 65-46) Wilson quickly clears the reds and sets up a shot on the blue that gives an angle to get on the yellow … but he overhits, and its snookered behind the brown!
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 37-46) In the words of Mitchell and Webb, ohhhhh, that’s a bad miss. Jones passes up the tricky red for a more open option – but he tries to play it with side to get on the black, and misses the pot. This is gift-wrapped for Wilson now …
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 37-41) Jones stays on track with a delicate red to the middle – his biggest remaining obstacle now is the red glued to the pink and blocking the right corner pocket. He has an angle on the blue to get it out of the way …
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 37-26) That’s the Crucible for you – Wilson was about six pots away from ending the match at a contest, but the floor went from under him, and he has to sit and watch Jones eagerly eating into his lead.
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 37-6) Wilson is able to loosen the pack of reds and appears set for a frame-winning total – but he goes for a red next to the pink and catches the latter first, conceding a foul and leaving Jones in the balls. That was a bizarre error.
Wilson 16-11 Jones (Frame score: 1-0) Jones leaves a half-chance for Wilson with a long, straight-ish red – and he nails the pot. He gets position, too, so this is a very quick opportunity after letting the last frame slip …
That is Jones’ third century of the tournament – Wilson has racked up eight. The total in the 2024 event is now 62, which will be the lowest since 2014.
Jones wins the frame! Wilson 16-11 Jones This would be Jones’ first century of the final, and after getting on to the yellow off the black, he hoovers up the colours off their spots. Frame score: 16-105 (Jones 105 break)
Wilson 16-10 Jones (Frame score: 16-63) Jones pots red and blue, and another red sunk with the rest makes the frame safe. Now to try and bag a century …
Wilson 16-10 Jones (Frame score: 16-56) A brief moment of panic as the cueball just squeezes past the red, but Jones is otherwise looking good here. Red and a colour required …
Wilson 16-10 Jones (Frame score: 16-20) Jones flicks a long red in off the black, tidies up the blue Wilson left in the jaws, and recovers from another iffy positional shot with a clinical cut on the pink to the bottom-left corner. This is now a presentable chance – but can he find his rhythm?
Wilson 16-10 Jones (Frame score: 16-0) It looks like Wilson is poised to make hay here, but on the next red he cannons into the black, pushing it near the pocket but with a red blocking his path. Time to play safe? No, he tries a slow roll of the blue towards the top left, and comes up just short. A chance for Jones, although the balls aren’t ideally situated for a big break.
Wilson 16-10 Jones (Frame score: 15-0) Jones aims for a shot-to-nothing into the left corner, but instead glances off the pack – it looks like he’s been lucky this time, though, with nothing easy on for his opponent. Wilson opts to take on a risky plant, using the freedom a six-frame cushion provides – and he makes it!
Wilson 16-10 Jones (Frame score: 11-0) Wilson misses a speculative shot on a red but benefits from an almighty fluke. When it’s your night, and all that. A poor positional shot off the blue swiftly ends the break, but he has Jones on the rack with a perfect safety, the cueball in the jaws behind the green.
Wilson 16-10 Jones Both players head out for a break after a testing opener – one that Jones really had to win. In the last three frames, he’s had half-chances and failed to build on them – had he even won two of the three, this would be a very different game.
Kyren Wilson wins the frame! Wilson 16-10 Jones Wilson downs the brown, drops the yellow into the middle and brings out the rest to pot the green. That leaves Jones needing snookers and Wilson’s lead is insurmountable by the time he jaws a wafer-thin cut on the blue. Frame score: 67-35
Wilson 15-10 Jones (Frame score: 54-35) Jones hits the red but leaves it on, Wilson dispatching it into the top right corner. It’s his frame to lose now …
