Jamie Jones (snooker player)

Jamie Jones

Jamie Jones at the 2011 Paul Hunter Classic
Born 14 February 1988
Sport country  Wales
Nickname The Cimla Quiff
The Welsh Warrior
Professional 2004/05, 2006/07, 2008/09, 2010–
Highest ranking 29 (May–July 2012)[1]
Current ranking 40 (as of 6 April 2015)
Highest break 143 (2010 PTC5)
Century breaks 56[2]
Best ranking finish Quarter-final (2012 World Championship)

Jamie Jones (born 14 February 1988) is a Welsh professional snooker player, from Neath. He was the youngest ever player, at age 14, to make a maximum 147 break in competition, a record that has since been beaten by Judd Trump. At the 2012 World Snooker Championship he reached his first ranking quarter-final.

Career

Early career

In 2002, he became the youngest-ever player to make a 147 in an official event, making it aged 14,[3] a record that has since been beaten by Judd Trump. Jones began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour.[4] He qualified for the Main Tour for 2006/2007 by finishing top of the 2005/06 Welsh rankings, although he could not maintain his place there. His best result in his first season as a professional was to the last 48 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix. After another spell on the tour in 2008/2009, in which, despite some strong performances, he again fell away, he regained a place for the 2010/2011 season.

2010/2011 season

He started the new season by winning three qualifying matches in the Shanghai Masters, beating Kuldesh Johal, Jimmy Michie and Adrian Gunnell before losing to Stephen Lee. After reaching the final of Players Tour Championship – Event 5, Jones rose to 47 in the rankings at the end of the season.

2011/2012 season

Jones made it to the quarter-finals of three Players Tour Championship events, but failed to progress further in any of them. However, his consistent performances meant he finished 23rd in the Order of Merit and therefore qualified for the 2012 PTC Finals,[5] where he reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time by defeating reigning World Champion John Higgins 4 frames to 3, after being 1–3 down. This set up a match with Andrew Higginson, which he lost 3–4.[6][7] Jones won two qualifying matches to reach the China Open, but lost 3–5 to Lu Ning in the wildcard round.[8]

Jones finished the season by qualifying for the 2012 World Championship, beating Ricky Walden 10–2 in the final qualifying round.[9] He then beat Shaun Murphy 10–8 in the first round, scoring two centuries.[10] In the second round he beat Andrew Higginson 13–10, included a 135 break in the penultimate frame, to reach his first ever ranking event quarter-final.[11] In the quarter final he was defeated 11–13 by former world number 2 Ali Carter, but made back-to-back clearances of 138 and 132 in frames 11 and 12, coming back from 12–8 to 12–11 before eventual runner-up Carter won the match.[12] Jones made seven centuries during the tournament, with only eventual winner Ronnie O'Sullivan making more.[13] Jones finished the season ranked a career high world number 29, meaning he had risen 18 places during the year.[14]

2012/2013 season

Following his superb run in last season's World Championship, Jones endured a difficult 2012/2013 season. He could only win three matches in ranking event qualifiers all year, with his sole appearance in the main draw coming at the Shanghai Masters.[15] He beat Jimmy White in qualifying and Lu Ning in the wildcard round, but was then defeated 2–5 by John Higgins in the first round.[15] He fared better in the Players Tour Championship events, with his best result coming at the Paul Hunter Classic, where he had wins over Jimmy Robertson, Jak Jones and Li Yan, before losing 2–4 to compatriot Ryan Day.[16] He finished 67th on the PTC Order of Merit.[17] Jones could not repeat last season's run to The Crucible as he was beaten 9–10 by Liam Highfield in the third round of World Championship Qualifying.[18] His disappointing year was reflected in the rankings as he dropped 11 places to finish world number 40.[19]

2013/2014 season

Jones reached the first round of the 2013 Wuxi Classic, but lost 5–4 to Liang Wenbo. He qualified for five more ranking events but was beaten in the opening round of each.[20] He had a very good year in the eight minor-ranking European Tour events, losing in the last 16 in two of them. His deepest finish came at the Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup where he beat Ian Burns 4–2 in the quarter-finals.[20] In the semis he was edged out 4–3 by Judd Trump and finished 15th on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Finals for the third time in four years.[21][22] Jones lost 4–2 to Mark Allen in the first round.[20] His drop down the rankings continued as he ended the season as the world number 55.[23]

2014/2015 season

At the 2014 Wuxi Classic, Jones defeated Ken Doherty 5–2, before losing 5–3 to Marco Fu in the second round.[24] He won three matches to qualify for the Australian Goldfields Open and thrashed Stephen Maguire 5–0, before being the victim of a whitewash in the second round by Neil Robertson.[25] The next match Jones could win at the venue stage of a ranking event was at the Welsh Open, 4–0 over Chris Norbury. In the second round he knocked out Shaun Murphy 4–3 and stated that he plays his best snooker in the televised stages of tournaments.[26] In an all-Welsh affair, Jones lost 4–2 to Mark Williams in the third round.[27] He then reached the last 16 in back-to-back ranking tournaments, losing 4–1 to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh at the Indian Open and 5–3 to Murphy at the China Open. Jones qualified for his second World Championship by beating Adam Duffy 10–8 in the final round.[24] He suffered a heavy 10–2 loss to Neil Robertson in the first round.[28]

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament 2004/
05		 2006/
07		 2008/
09		 2010/
11		 2011/
12		 2012/
13		 2013/
14		 2014/
15
Ranking[29][nb 1] UR[nb 2][nb 3] UR[nb 2] UR[nb 2] UR[nb 2] 47 29 40 55
Ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic[nb 4] Not Held Non-Ranking LQ 1R 2R
Australian Goldfields Open Not Held LQ LQ LQ 2R
Shanghai Masters Not Held LQ LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ
International Championship Not Held LQ 1R WR
UK Championship A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R 1R
German Masters Not Held A LQ LQ LQ LQ
Welsh Open A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ 2R 3R
Indian Open Not Held 1R 3R
Players Championship Grand Final[nb 5] Not Held 1R 2R DNQ 1R DNQ
China Open A LQ LQ LQ WR LQ 1R 3R
World Championship LQ LQ LQ LQ QF LQ LQ 1R
Non-ranking tournaments
Masters A LQ LQ A A A A A
Variant format tournaments
Six-red World Championship[nb 6] Not Held A 2R NH A A A
Shoot-Out Not held A 3R 2R 1R SF
Former ranking tournaments
Malta Cup A LQ Not Held
Northern Ireland Trophy Not Held LQ LQ Not Held
Bahrain Championship Not Held LQ Not Held
World Open[nb 7] A RR LQ LQ LQ LQ 1R NH
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)		 QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. ↑ From the 2010/2011 season it shows the ranking at the beginning of the season.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 New players don't have a ranking.
  3. ↑ He was not on the Main Tour.
  4. ↑ The event was called the Jiangsu Classic (2008/2009)
  5. ↑ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Finals (2010/2011–2012/2013)
  6. ↑ The event was called the Six-red Snooker International (2008/2009)
  7. ↑ The event was called the Grand Prix (2004/2005–2008/2009)

Tournament finals

Minor-ranking event finals: 1 (1 runner-up)

Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1 2010 Players Tour Championship – Event 5 China Junhui, DingDing Junhui 1–4

Amateur

References

  1. ↑ "Official World Snooker Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "Century Breaks - All-time, Professional". CueTracker - Snooker Database. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "BBC – Wales – Snooker". BBC. Retrieved 2007-04-30.
  4. ↑ "Jamie Jones - Season 2004/2005". Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  5. ↑ "PTC Order of Merit after PTC12" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
  6. ↑ "Jones Topples World Champion". 15 March 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
  7. ↑ "Players Tour Championship 2011/2012 Grand Final Draw" (PDF). worldsnooker.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  8. ↑ "Jamie Jones 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  9. ↑ "Jamie Jones 2011/2012". Snooker.org. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  10. ↑ "Jones a hero after Murphy defeat". Press Association. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  11. ↑ "Jones holds nerve to oust Higginson". Eurosport. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  12. ↑ "Carter Finally Ends Jones Challenge". WPBSA. 2 May 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  13. ↑ "Televised century breaks". worldsnookerdata.com. World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Archived from the original on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  14. ↑ "Official World Ranking List for the 2012/2013 Season" (PDF). Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Jamie Jones 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "Betfair European Tour Event One". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  17. ↑ "Order of Merit 2012/2013". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  18. ↑ "Betfair World Championship Qualifiers". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  19. ↑ "Official World Snooker Ranking List For The 2013/2014 Season" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "Jamie Jones 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  21. ↑ "Snooker - Allen wins second straight European title". Eurosport. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  22. ↑ "European Order of Merit 2013/2014". Snooker.org. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  23. ↑ "World Snooker Rankings After the 2014 World Championship" (PDF). World Snooker. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Jamie Jones 2014/2015". Snooker.org. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  25. ↑ "Thunder Storms Into Last Eight". World Snooker. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  26. ↑ "Mark Williams burns the midnight oil to set up all-Welsh clash". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  27. ↑ "Welsh Open Results". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  28. ↑ "Jamie Jones suffers 10-2 defeat to Neil Robertson in World Snooker Championships". South Wales Evening Post'. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  29. ↑ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.

External links

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