Jak Jones reveals exhausting commutes to support pregnant wife during British Open title run

The 33-year-old Welshman got the better of four-time World Champion Mark Selby, 10-6, on Sunday night in the Cheltenham final to lift The Clive Everton Trophy for the first time and pocket a £100,000 payday.

A surprise World Championship finalist in 2024 as a qualifier, Jones’ maiden ranking event title came less than eight weeks ago at the Championship League. But his heroics this week at The Centaur - which have resulted in him becoming the 46th multiple-time ranking event winner in professional snooker history - culminate in his finest achievement in the sport with the profile and prize money that the British Open has.

In a back-and-forth final - having been pegged back five times by Selby - Jones managed to break free from his opponent in the evening session, taking five of the final six frames for glory.

From a long way behind in both, Jones pinched frame seven on the final pink, and frame 12 on the final black, but didn’t feel as if he was the better player on the day.

Speaking to the World Snooker Tour after his greatest green baize accomplishment, Jones said: "The Championship League felt good, but obviously this is a completely different level, it’s a major tournament.

"I’m over the moon. I felt I dragged Mark down a little bit throughout the day. I just kind of battled away and made a few 50 and 60 breaks. But to beat someone like Mark, who’s an all-time great and has won everything in the game, is incredible.

"It's definitely the best day of my career. Winning a ranking event is better than coming runner-up in a World Championship. To finally win a big tournament like this – I thought it might not happen. It's an unbelievable start to the season for me, so I'm buzzing. It has been tough for 15 years, I have been battling away but haven't really achieved that much, so to start winning titles feels amazing."

Jones ‘absolutely knackered’ with second child expected in days

Jones’ run to the 2026 British Open title has been lively, and it actually started last month at the qualifiers in Leicester where he ousted Matthew Selt, 4-3, to make it through to the televised stages in Gloucestershire.

He was then sent an email from the World Snooker Tour with what turned out to be the wrong start time for his opening match at The Centaur. Believing he was due on in the afternoon session on Tuesday, Jones was informed the night before by fellow professional Phil O’Kane that according to the WST website, he was scheduled to be playing in the morning instead.

After contacting the authorities, Jones was indeed told that he was on in the first session the next day, which meant he had to travel that same evening instead of going up in the morning and risk getting stuck in traffic.

Despite that drama, Jones began his match against last year’s runner-up Anthony McGill with century breaks in the opening two frames before scoring a 4-0 win.

En route to the title, he also defeated newly-minted Wuhan Open champion Chang Bingyu, Shanghai Masters champion Judd Trump, and China Open champion Selby - other than himself, the other three title winners from this season’s fledgling top-flight circuit.

Jones’ achievements are perhaps even more impressive with the fact his heavily pregnant wife is expecting their second child in the coming days. Having commuted between matches to look after his family, Jones admitted that the experience had left him fatigued.

“I felt absolutely knackered all week” Jones told WST.

“I haven’t really slept all week. I’ve been travelling back and forth from Wales instead of staying in a hotel, so I’ve been getting back at like 1, 2am in the morning. And then Harri’s (his son) awake at half six, seven in the morning, so I’ve kind of got away with it because I was playing in the evening, but today, one o’clock, I was really feeling it, which probably explains my performance a little bit.”

Jones is scheduled to play in this week’s English Open in Brentwood, but confirmed to Channel 5 in an arena interview that he won’t be playing in that, which means his opponent Chang will receive a walkover to the last 32.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 British Open snooker, visit our tournament information centre here.