Jak Jones produced one of the bigger upsets of the snooker calendar Saturday, defeating Judd Trump 6-4 at the British Open to set up a final against Mark Selby.
Jones built breaks of 95 and 68 to take a 3-1 lead, but Trump leveled the match at 3-3. Jones then knocked in a 59 and a 52 to go back in front at 5-3. The decisive moment came in the ninth frame, when Trump missed a green on the colours, and Jones closed out the victory.
"I started off quite well before the interval and then after that I started missing a few, didn't I?" Jones told Channel 5. "I can't say I'm in this position a lot so it's a bit different for me compared to Judd."
Jones reached the final of the 2024 World Championship but has not consistently threatened at the top end of ranking events. Trump, by contrast, is among the most decorated players in the sport and entered the match as the clear favorite.
On the other side of the draw, Selby came through a harder-than-expected semifinal against Liam Highfield, who was playing in his first ranking event semifinal. Highfield took the opening frame before Selby leveled with an 85 and moved into a 3-2 lead. A break of 56 helped Highfield level at 3-3. Selby then won three frames in a row to take the match 6-3 and secure his place in a final.
It will be Selby's 40th ranking event final, a number he reflected on after the match.
"It was a tough match, Liam didn't make it easy for me at all," Selby said. "His safety was incredible. I can't remember him playing a poor safety shot all the way through the match."
He added: "To think, when I was starting out, a 16-year-old kid in 1999, if somebody had said I'd get to 40 ranking finals, I'd have said 'no chance'. I'd have been happy to get to just one or two."
A victory in the final would move Selby from fourth to second in the world rankings. Jones and Selby are scheduled to meet in the British Open final.
