World Championship final LIVE – Jak Jones and Kyren Wilson go head-to-head as each man eyes maiden crown

There have been two opening session whitewashes in finals before – Steve Davis clubbing Dennis Taylor 7-0 in the legendary 1985 final, and John Parrot wiping out Jimmy White by the same margin six years later. Can Kyren put the first 8-0 opening session wipeout on the board here? Jak misses a long red at the get go, and Kyren is immediately in with a double to left middle. It goes awry on 10 though as Kyren misses a mid-range red to bottom right; Jak is in with a red to left middle, and he has the chance to register his first meaningful visit of the day here.

Frame ball red wobbles a touch into the bottom right, but that serves to focus Kyren’s mind as he piles on even more points. In potting pink to yellow pocket he then brings out the final red, and only a missed green nixes the fun and ends his break on 90. It’s seven frames in a row for Kyren, and Jak is in serious danger of being whitewashed in this session.

It’s another half-century for Kyren in this match, as he drives the black into the bottom right. Everything is going right into the heart of the pocket here, with one satisfying thunk after another. The break goes to 60 with a blue to right middle, and the frame looks a formality now.

It’s going for Kyren alright. He pots a red into the bottom right playing cushion first, and lands on the black. Within a few shots he wipes out Jak’s tiny lead, and reaches 31 by potting the black and going into the pack in the same swoop. they’ve broken nicely and he’s on a red to right middle; it’s another frame-winning chance for the Warrior.

This’ll help Jak’s mood. Not the long red that rattles out of the jaws of the bottom left, but its subsequent journey across the rail and into the bottom right. The crowd love that one! He then goes into the pack off the black, but ends up on nish; it really isn’t going for him out there. Jak’s back now though as Kyren misses a slow roll at a red to green pocket and leaves it. Jak picks that off, but can’t disturb the pack off the yellow; it’s only 11 points from two bites.

A red to bottom left is frame ball, and Kyren jabs it in; the black that follows puts it beyond reasonable doubt. Can he convert this into a ton? The final red is in baulk and Kyren drops in behind it off the blue, before calmly prodding it in. A yellow to right middle makes it a ton, and Kyren mops up the lot for a brilliant total dish of 125. The black is battered into the bottom left with style, gusto and deep screw on the white. Kyren’s enjoying this, and so he should be; he’s in total command in the final of the World Championship.

Two very precise shots from Kyren, in and out of baulk of the blue and then potting a red with the rest to go round the back of others and get to the blue, keep this break trucking. A later pink to bottom left rings in another half-century, and he’s only a couple of reds and colours away from a sixth frame in a row.

An interesting choice of shot from Jak here, as he turns down a long red to play a dump shot onto the bottom cushion. Maybe he’ll try to take Kyren into the trenches for a frame, just to disrupt his rhythm a little. He forces an error from Kyren, who misses a thin contact safety and gives away four, but can’t then convert a mid-range red to bottom left. That missed by a country mile, and he is struggling out there right now. He then misses another red to green pocket, clipping the brown on its way, and Jak hasn’t potted a ball now for 36 minutes. Kyren then gets in with a made plant to bottom left, and starts stitching together another break.

A 62 from Kyren extends his lead, and ensures he will have some kind of lead when we resume tonight. The way this is going, it could be a very big one indeed.

That was a worrying shot from Jak, who is now back in his seat and mulling it over as Kyren gets to work. A black to bottom right takes this swift break to 31 and puts Kyren more than 50 ahead in the frame. The winning line is hoving into view again and there’s not much for Kyren to do to vault past it.

We’re back, and Kyren’s away again. With the white wedged beneath the top cushion, he gently glides in a red long to the bottom left to hold for the black, a gorgeous shot. The black goes, followed by another superb, slow but sure red long to the yellow pocket. Kyren has played some great shots so far today. Another recovery red is needed here though as he tries to open the pack and slides off the side…and it rattles out of the jaws and leaves Jak an easy starter, or so we think. In trying to clip the red in Jak misses it by a huge distance, and the white careers into the pack. Reds have gone everywhere and Kyren returns to an easy starter and with the frame at his mercy.

These frames aren’t being won cleanly in one hit, but Kyren is dominating Jak so far and having fun out there right now. He makes 43 before missing the final black, and strolls in at the interval with a four frame advantage.

Much for Jak to think about then; we’ll be back in around 15 minutes.

A red along the bottom rail and into the bottom right by Kyren puts him 59 ahead with 59 remaining. He’s low on frame ball black, and can’t convert it; Jak is still in this one, just, and he’s on a red to bottom left. He takes it on but misses it, leaving it over the hole, and that will do us.

Only one player is scoring here, so only one player is winning frames. A black to bottom right brings up another half-century for Kyren, and if he can disturb a cluster of five to the right of the pink spot he’ll have cleaned Jak out in this mini-session. He looks very focused here, and the winning line in the frame is in sight.

In his semi-final with Stuart Bingham, Jak lost the first three frames, so there’ll be no panic buttons being walloped with a mallet just yet. I dare say he’ll chuck the lot at winning this one though, just to make that interval brew taste a bit better. He picks up an early seven points in frame four as Kyren inadvertently sends the black into the bottom right from a safety. In the ensuing safety exchange its Jak that makes the first error, leaving Kyren a red down the right rail which is duly plugged, followed by the blue. He’s on a roll again, stitching a break together, and with a good recovery red with the rest taking him to 29.

Kyren won’t mind winning this in two/three bite frames if he keeps being offered them and keeps winning them. A swift 29 from him puts another frame in the bank.

Oh my. Kyren, on the cusp of a half-century, misses a virtually straight red to the bottom right to bring his break clanging to a halt on 47. Can Jak respond? No. He’s out of position straight away in his counter and overcuts a black to bottom right with the rest, leaving the frame on for Kyren. There are jitters on both sides here, but Kyren has markedly settled the better of the two.

This is a beaut from Kyren. Jak leaves him a long, bullet straight red over the bottom right. Kyren absolutely thuds it in, and screws the white back up the table for the yellow. It’s a chance but it’ll be hard work, with the black snarled up in reds and the pink in baulk. Kyren is making it easier though; he picks off the pink to get it rehoused on the blue spot, and slowly but surely this is becoming a frame-winning chance.

Kyren’s long game is a bit scratchy so far, as he misses another long blam by a good way at the start of frame three. Jak responds by sweeping in a red to bottom right to hold for the pink, and he’s got the first chance in this one. Early in the break he goes into the pack off the blue, which leaves only a tricky red to green pocket with the spider. Jak takes it on but it doesn’t even bother the jaws, and he’s extremely lucky not to leave anything.

Jak mops up the remaining reds, and he’s straight on a black to the yellow pocket to hold for the yellow. He plays it soft but it drifts off target and rattles out, leaving the frame on for what will be a very relieved Kyren. With calm precision Kyren clears the colours to move two in front.

Jak makes 24, but when taking one of the tougher reds along he cushion to the bottom right, he rattles it out of the jaws. It’s just about on as a thin cut for Kyren, who slashes it in and fortuitously lands on the pink. He should seal the frame here, but now he’s missed a pink to the left middle! Early drama but a lot of balls have gone safe, so Kyren is still the favourite to take the frame.

The reds are clustered awkwardly to the right of the pink, so it’s hard yards to make anything substantial here. Kyren seems right on his game though, and is fair battering the white into the necessary positions to keep his break going. He gets up to 44 with the pink, and another red and black on top bring in the half-century. Here’s an early swing though; Kyren takes a red to bottom right with the rest, opening other reds as he does so; the target red hits the jaws of the pocket and stays there. What a chance now for Jak to steal.

A safety exchange opens frame two, with Kyren giving away four when shorting a one cushion escape onto the pack. Kyren then misses a bash at a long red, leaving JAk an easy mid-range starter to bottom right. Jak glides that in but only leaves himself a tough blue to the green pocket to keep going, and he can’t convert it. Kyren steps in, clips in a red to bottom left, and he’s away again.

Frame ball red takes Kyren to 68, and the black that follows ends the argument in the opener. Can we get the ton, the first in the opening frame of a final since Hendry did it versus Jimmy in 1993? Oh we can alright; Kyren brings the last red off the side rail after potting the blue, tags it in with the rest and then drops in another blue for the century. He’s not done either; Kyren empties the table for an emphatic total clearance of 129. Wow! That’s some start.

Impressive stuff so far from Kyren. Two difficult pots require the rest and the swan neck spider to negotiate them, but they are dispatched with minimal fuss and a black gives Kyren a rapid half-ton. He looks very relaxed out there, and from here looks nailed on to take the first frame.

Kyren gets away first, floating in a deadweight red to bottom right and he’s on the black. It’s a testing little cut back into bottom left but he glides that in too, and this is an immediate chance. He’s in an aggressive mood, opening the pack early by stunning into them off a red to hold for the black. It’s 30 and counting for him, and this frame could go very quickly given how these balls are placed.

Our MC, talking’s Rob Walker, introduces the player. Jak steps in first to a blast of the Stereophonics, and to a thunderous ovation. Kyren follows, to much whooping and hollering also. Oh boy, the Crucible crowd are up for this, and rightly so. All the talking is done, let’s get to the action. It’s best of 35 for the title, eight frames of which are in the coming session. A note to for our referee Paul Collier, officiating his last ever game on tour.

Kyren leads this 4-1, with the most recent meeting seeing him hose down Jak 6-0 in the last 64 of the 2021 UK Championship. They’ve never met in anything beyond a best of 11 though, so you can probably sling the form book like a frisbee out of the nearest window.

The man they call the Silent Assassin fired a warning shot at the Crucible last year, when in his debut appearance he beat Ali Carter and Neil Robertson before falling in a narrow defeat to Mark Allen. Now 30, Jak spent his early career dropping off and then back on the tour, before returning for good in 2018 and steadily climbing the rankings since then. This is his first ranking event final, so he’s breaking new ground all the time; if he wins here he’ll be the fourth world champion from Wales, joining the illustrious company of Ray Reardon, Mark Williams and Terry Griffiths. Just two weeks ago he was a 150/1 outsider to win this title, and he’s only the ninth player to get to the final after coming through the pre-tournament qualifiers.

John Parrott, Mark Williams, Peter Ebdon, Graeme Dott, Mark Selby and Judd Trump; that’s a list of world champions that lost a world final before landing the title later in their career. Kyren was a runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan in that Covid-delayed summer tournament in 2020, an experience that could prove invaluable to him today. He’s been a semi-finalist twice here too, and a Masters runner-up; for the last six seasons he’s been in the top 10 in the world rankings. Kyren has been threatening something big for a while now, and this could be his time. His game and temperament look made for the long haul format and after blasting through his side of the draw he’ll start as favourite today.

It’s here, and before we go any further something needs saying: no one ever flukes a world title in snooker. It’s unlike any other competition in the calendar, a merciless examination of a players’ game in nerve-sapping, long haul contests over 17 days. You’ll have to survive the draining schedule, gut-wrenching swings in momentum and crises both internal and on table. If you’re not on your game, you’re going home. It’s that simple.

If you’re walking out at the Crucible on the Sunday prior to the May Day bank holiday, you’ve earned it. A final between Kyren Wilson and Jak Jones is one that no one would’ve predicted at the outset, but a stage that both more than deserve. Kyren has dominated all of his matches on the way here; only the great John Higgins was able to get within five frames of beating him, as the Warrior applied pedal to metal. And Jak? What a run. He followed up beating the dangerous Zhang Anda and Si Jiahui by besting two former world champions in Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham.

They’re the last two standing, and what a prize on offer. Never mind the five hundred large, however long that will keep the lights on for; this is a shot at being the champion of the world, the very best in your profession. To be at the table with Ronnie, Selby, Hendry, Williams, Reardon, two fellas named Higgins and three named Davis. Jak is having his first look at this, Kyren his second; both men know this game well and know it might not come around for them again. This is happening right here, right now, and for the winner this will last forever.

It’s taken 569 frames to get to this point and we’ve got a maximum of 35 left, in four sessions over the next two days. It doesn’t get any more important than this, so let’s get into it. Kyren versus Jak, for the biggest prize in the game.

Wilson and Gilbert were locked together after two sessions, but the former made his move on Friday evening to open up a four-frame advantage.

Gilbert faced a huge task on Saturday, and was unable to mount a revival as Wilson advanced to the championship match – four years on from his loss to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2020.

While the clash between Wilson and David Gilbert was filled with quality, it was attritional stuff between Jones and Bingham.

Jones held a three-frame lead heading into the session, and it took them almost two and a half hours to play the opening four frames of the evening.

Referee endures epic ball replacement after Jones miss from amazing snookerReferee endures epic ball replacement after Jones miss from amazing snooker

Bingham, who led 3-0 early in the match, had chances but missed too many of them and Jones held firm late in the evening to book his place in a Crucible final with a 17-12 win.