Jak Jones won the first professional title of his career, coming from 2-1 down to beat David Gilbert 3-2 in the final of the BetVictor Championship League, the first ranking event of the new season.
Welshman Jones earns £33,000 as well as a place in the Champion of Champions in November, but most importantly lifts a trophy for the first time since he turned pro in 2010. He had to top the table three times in the group phases of the 21-day tournament to reach the final in Leicester, then edged out Gilbert in a tense battle.
Jones made a huge breakthrough in 2024 when he reached his first ranking final at the World Championship, beaten by Kyren Wilson at the Crucible. He struggled to reach the same heights over the next two years and suffered a low point last season when he broke his hand by punching the table in frustration during a practice session.
But the 32-year-old can now celebrate his first silverware. “It feels unreal, I was more nervous tonight than I was in the world final,” said the player from Cwmbran. “It’s a monkey off my back and good to get that out of the way. It’s great for my wife and son who support me. And my parents have spent 15 years watching me lose, so it’s nice to win one for them.”
Gilbert, who won this event in 2021, took the opening frame of the final with a break of 104, before Jones levelled with a run of 64. Frame three went Gilbert’s way thanks to a break of 66 and he looked to have the advantage early in frame four when his opponent was trapped in a tough snooker, but Jones executed an incredible escape to hit the brown off four cushions, leaving the table safe. He later made an 86 for 2-2.
First opportunity of the decider went to Gilbert but he made just 11 before missing a red with the rest. Jones replied with 55 then a pink to centre hit the near jaw, but Gilbert’s hopes ended when he rattled another red in the jaws of a top corner, handing Jones the chance to add 14 for victory.
In the group phase, Jones opened with a 3-0 win over Hossein Vafaei with a top break of 116, then drew 2-2 with Zhang Anda. He sealed top spot in the group with a 3-0 victory over Dylan Emery, firing runs of 70 and 87.
Gilbert top scored with 104 and 101 in a 3-1 defeat of Lei Peifan then made 102 and 82 as he drew 2-2 with Elliot Slessor. He wrapped up the group by beating Noppon Saengkham 3-1, finishing with a superb 140.
I’m very happy for Jak Jones and his family … because he hasn’t got it easy and neither have they.
Here are some facts about Jak that will explain what I mean … Jak has nine siblings, one sister and eight brothers. His parents Colin and Debbie have made huge sacrifices to help him reach the pinnacle of his sport of choice. His dad has travelled the globe to watch him play. I remember him, at PTCs, always supportive and present for his son. His mum is a huge supporter as well, but she gets very nervous when he competes and can’t watch … so she prefers to stay away from the venues. The family certainly isn’t rich, but they are proud Welsh and, even when he was a kid, Jak’s snooker attire was always elegant. I remember one waistcoat in particular, a dark blue satin one, featuring tiny yellow stars … it was like he was wearing a bright and mysterious summer night …
This title may not be the most prestigious one, but it’a a ranking title and Jak will be invited at this season Champion of Champions. He will probably get better/additional sponsoring too. As I wrote above, I’m very happy for him and his family.
All-Star Line-Up For BetVictor English Open in Brentwood
Fans can see a sensational line-up of snooker’s greatest players at the BetVictor English Open in September as Mark Allen defends the title in a superb field.
World Champion Wu Yize, world number one Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy, Neil Robertson, Mark Williams, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby, Zhao Xintong, Kyren Wilson and defending champion Allen are among the all-time greats heading for the Brentwood Centre in Essex for the world ranking event which runs from September 7-13.
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Allen beat Zhou Yuelong 9-8 in a dramatic final a year ago and hopes to become the first player to lift the Steve Davis Trophy in back-to-back years. He plays his first match at 7pm on the opening day, Monday September 7th. On the same day, green baize kings in action include Neil Robertson (1pm), Mark Selby and Zhao Xintong (not before 8pm).
On Tuesday September 8th, look out for Crucible king Wu Yize (1pm), Class of ’92 legends Mark Williams and Ronnie O’Sullivan (afternoon session), world number one Judd Trump (7pm) and Shaun Murphy (not before 8pm).
Essex favourites Ali Carter and Stuart Bingham are also in the line-up with a total of 64 players in the draw in Brentwood. The match schedule will be updated after the qualifying round which runs on July 25 and 26.
It’s the first of four events in the 2026/27 BetVictor Home Nations Series and the leading money winner across the series will bank an extra £150,000 bonus.
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As usual, I have replaced the link to the WST draw, by the link to the snooker.org site page offering the same information, in a more readable format (IMO) and because that page will still exist when the WST one will be gone.
Ronnie has entered the event. As it stands, should they both win their opening match vs a qualifier, Ronnie set to play Theppy, and should Ronnie win, he is likely to face Wu Yize next. They are not easy opponents but at least neither of those two is likely to turn the match into a grind fest. So, it’s all good and it should be entertaining.
This event has a random draw, and a new draw is made before each round. Therefore only the first round draw can be published ahead of the event and WST has now made it available:
Unibet British Open 2026 Draw: Murphy To Face Evans
Shaun Murphy will take on Reanne Evans when he starts the defence of his Unibet British Open title in Cheltenham, with the first round draw for the event now available.
Murphy beat Anthony McGill in the final last year and will aim to win the Clive Everton Trophy again at the world ranking event which runs from August 31 to September 6 at the Centaur Arena at Cheltenham Racecourse.
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The tournament has a random draw which means that star names can go head-to-head from the opening round. Most round one matches will take place in a qualifying event on July 23 and 24 in Leicester, but fixtures involving the top 16 seeds have been held over to Cheltenham. They are:
Defending champion Shaun Murphy v Reanne Evans
Four-time Crucible king John Higgins v Hossein Vafaei
World number one Judd Trump v Dylan Emery
World Champion Wu Yize v Liu Hongyu
All-time greatest Ronnie O’Sullivan v Mateusz Baranowski
Mark Williams v David Gilbert
Zhao Xintong v Oliver Brown
Neil Robertson v Pang Junxu
Kyren Wilson v Florian Nuessle
Mark Allen v Wang Xinbo
Ding Junhui v Anton Kazakov
Barry Hawkins v Deng Haohui
Xiao Guodong v Jiang Jun
Mark Selby v David Lilley
Chris Wakelin v Luca Brecel
Si Jiahui v Ashley Carty
The match schedule for Cheltenham will be announced after the qualifiers. The event will have extensive live coverage in the UK on 5, with the full list of broadcasters to be announced soon.
The draw may be random but there is no clash between two top sixteen members, which, of course, would have not been good commercially… luck was on the side of WST there 😎1
The Championship League Snooker Ranking Edition is the first ranking event of the season, and it has been that way for some years now. A lot of fans dislike the event, I’m not one of them. Yes, it does go on forever, and, yes, it’s not the easiest tournament to follow … but, in my opinion at least it has its merits.
For a start, it’s open to all pros, and everyone starts at the same stage. No qualifiers behind closed doors here. All matches are streamed on Youtube, absolutely all of them. This makes this event a good opportunity for fans of the sport1 to watch every player in action, notably the rookies on tour.
No matter how well, or how bad, they perform, players are guaranteed three matches as a minimum. That makes it a good opportunity for rookies to gain experience against pros of different strength, playing various “styles” of snooker.
Ian Burns won Group 2. He won all his matches. He lost just one frame all day. Mark Williams was due to play in this group but withdrew.
Dylan Emery won Group 3. Only three matches were played. This group was supposed to feature Kyren Wilson. Kyren though withdrew after learning that his house had been burgled. Here is what he shared on social media.
Iulian Boiko won Group 4. Both him and Lan Yuhao played 3 matches, finished on 7 points, won 2 matches, drew 1, won 11 frames, lost 3. Eventually, who had made the highest break was the decisive factor. That’s harsh … especially considering that this event is ranking. It may not be big money but it could still be decisive come the end of the season.
Chris Wakelin won Group 5. Both him and Luke Pinches, Barry’s son, finished on 6 points, but Chris prevailed, having won more frames than Luke. It was a bizarre group. Strangely enough, Chris lost his first match against French amateur Brian Ochoiski by 3-1 and Luke Pinches was only in the draw because Sam Craigie withdrew.
Dean Young won Group 8. Dean was the only amateur in that group, a group that featured Theppy, the 8th seed in the event. Reanne Evans featured in that group. She finished last, with two losses and a draw … against Theppy, strangely enough. Now, possibly, Theppy was only just back from Thailand and still jet-lagged …
Elliot Slessor won Group 9. Elliot was undefeated, he won two matches and drew one. Also featuring in this group was Robert Milkins, twice a ranking event winner. Rob finished last though, winning just two frames all day …
Zhang Anda won Group 10, with three wins out of three.
Ali Carter won Group 12, with two wins and a draw. Jamie Jones also featured in that group, and he also won two and drew one. Ali Carter though lost only 3 frames all day whilst Jamie lost 4 frames.
Gary Wilson won Group 14. He was the only undefeated player in that group.
Pang Junxu won Group 15 despite winning just one match. It was a very “close” group, with four of the six matches ending in a draw.
Lei Peifan won Group 16. Lei and Ishpreet Singh Chadha were the only players to win matches in that group. Both won two matches, but crucially Lei defeated Ishpreet Singh Chadha in the last match on the day in that group.
Liu Hongyu topped Group 17. He was the only undefeated player in that group. New professional, Paul Norris, who will turn 60 in about a month, had a difficult debut to say the least … he didn’t win a match and, actually, won just one frame all day.
Hossein Vafaei won Group 18, with two wins and a draw. Rookie pro, Oliver Sykes also had a difficult professional debut. He won just one frame all day, that, bizarrely, came against Hossein, the eventual Group winner.
Stephen Maguire won Group 19. Every player involved in that group lost one match, just one … each… On Yee Ng was involved in that group and she finished last. It’s a harsh outcome as she only lost one match, against Maguire the eventual group winner, she got a draw in the other two matches and she showed some good things TBF. She lacks cue power§ and she could be more aggressive maybe. Her determination can’t be questioned though.
Scott Donaldson won Group 20. Bai Yulu was playing in this group and finished last. After the worst possible start, a 3-0 defeat to Yuan Sijun, the highest ranked player in the group, in the very first match on the day, Bai managed to get two draws, one of those against the eventual group winner. Harsh.
David Gilbert won Group 21. He got 2 wins and a draw. Bizarrely the draw came against Mahmoud El Hareedy, from Egypt who got his tour card by becoming “All Africa Snooker Champion” last year. Last season, Mahmoud won only one match, in the first round of the 2026 German Masters qualifiers, against Amir Sarkosh…
Jak Jones won Group 22. Now this is an odd one! The only player who was undefeated in that group on the day was Alfie Burden … who finished last 😳. The other three players involved in the group all had one win, one draw and one defeat. It all came to frame difference for them.
Jimmy Robertson won Group 23, with one win and two draws. The key factor was that he was the only undefeated player in that group.
If anything, Group 24 was even “closer”. All four players won one match, just one. Xu Si prevailed because he remained undefeated. Julien Leclercq and Michael Holt had one win, one draw and one defeat. Julien earned the second place on frame difference. Craig Steadman was last with two defeats.
Group 25 was really extraordinary. Every match, other than the first one finished on a draw. Jackson Page, who had beaten Ashley Hugill by 3-1 in the first match to finish on the day, won the group.
Chang Bingyu won Group 27 . He only lost one frame all day, to Jamie Clarke. Four of the six matches ended on a 3-0 score, the other two on a 3-1 score. No draw in this group…
He Guoqiang won Group 28 in similar fashion. He lost just one frame, to Liu Yang who came second in the group. Liu Yang is a new professional, 22 years old. This group originally featured Anthony Mc Gill. Anthony withdrew though and was replaced by Dylan Smith, a 18 years old amateur from England. Dylan won just one frame, the very first played on the day. He won it in style though … with a break of 78.
Group 29 proved to be even more extraordinary. In that group, three players, Noppon Saengkham, Liam Davies and Ben Woollaston, finished with two wins and one defeat, all three had played 11 frames, won 7, lost 4. The break to got Noppon the win, a 123, came in the last match on the day and that was actually the only match he lost … 😳
Stan Moody won Group 30, with two wins and a draw. He made breaks of 52, 59, 68, 70, 73, 109 and 135 in the process… not too shabby!
as opposed to just fan of one particular player ↩︎
The following announcement was shared by WST yesterday:
Shenzhen Open Added To Calendar As Xi’an Event Relocates
The Shenzhen Open world ranking event will be staged for the first time this season, replacing the Xi’an Grand Prix.
The dates will remain the same with the final stages to be played from September 28th to October 4th, 2026.
Shenzhen is located in the Guangdong Province in southern China, known for its cutting edge technology and economic growth. With a population of 17 million, it is the third largest city in China after Beijing and Shanghai. It is also the home of 2025 World Champion Zhao Xintong.
The qualifying rounds in the UK will run from July 19th to 22nd. The format has a tiered structure with three qualifying rounds, and the top 16 seeds have their round three (last 64) matches held over to the venue in Shenzhen.
Total prize money will be £850,000, with the winner to receive £177,000. Mark Williams will be defending champion having won the title in Xi’an last year
Simon Brownell, Chief Executive Officer of WST, said: “We are thrilled to be bringing a huge event to the incredible city of Shenzhen for the first time. The fans there will get the opportunity to watch their heroes play live and it will be a fantastic experience for the top players to visit another new city in China, as our sport continues to grow across the region.”
The Xi’an Grand Prix was staged in Xi’an in the Shaanxi Province in 2024 and 2025.
Nothing to add really… let’s hope that it’s a success, and that the event will be well attended. With such a huge population and being home to the first Chinese World Snooker Champion it should be. If it isn’t then something is badly wrong somewhere…
The quarter-finals for all four BetVictor Home Nations events in the 2026/27 season will change from best of nine frames to best of 11.
There is also a change in format with the Friday afternoon quarter-finals to be played concurrently on two tables from 1pm, rather than the previous roll-on roll-off format from 12pm. The evening quarter-finals on the same day will be on two tables from 7pm as usual.
This change has been made after discussions with host broadcasters TNT Sports and BBC Wales, taking into account the preference among fans and players for longer matches at the deep end of tournaments.
The four events are:
BetVictor English Open The Brentwood Centre September 7-13.
BetVictor Northern Ireland Open Waterfront Hall, Belfast October 18-25.
BetVictor Scottish Open The Meadowbank Centre, Edinburgh December 14-20.
BetVictor Welsh Open Venue Cymru, Llandudno February 8-14, 2027.
Overall I believe that this is a good move, but then, if fans expressed their preference for longer matches, why not make the earlier stages longer as well? Maybe, the issue with the earlier stages is the number of tables used simultaneously? Moving to best of 9 would almost certainly mean adding an interval, and with that having to cope with fans leaving and rejoining the arena while several matches are still in progress on close-by tables.
The draw for the 2026 Shanghai Masters has been made, with Kyren Wilson defending the title in the 24-player invitation event which runs from July 27th to August 2nd in China.
Wilson, who beat Ali Carter in the final last year, could face five-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in his opening match, if the Rocket can get past a local wild card in the previous round.
The top eight seeds, including world number one Judd Trump and World Champion Wu Yize, are seeded into the last 16, while the other 16 players start in round one.
Chinese legend Ding Junhui needs to win his first match against a wild card to earn a tie with 2025 Crucible king Zhao Xintong.
Ronnie’s current ranking means that he enters this competition in round 1, whilst the top eight players start in round 2. It may actually be a good thing because he will play a less experienced opponent2 first.
I have replaced the original link by the one on snooker.org pointing to the same information. This is because the WST link will disappear after a while, whilst the one on snooker.org will remain valid. ↩︎
On paper at least … the guys playing in the Chinese tour are no lambs for the slaughter, far from it ↩︎
