Gwent's 'Silent assassin' causes huge World Championship upset to make semis

CWMBRAN’S Jak Jones caused a major upset at the Crucible by scuppering Judd Trump’s hopes of landing a second world snooker title.

The 30-year-old from Fairwater, ranked 44th in the world, capitalised on an error-strewn display by the 2019 champion to turn an 8-8 overnight tie into a 13-9 win and reach the last four for the first time.

Nicknamed the Silent Assassin, Jones is making a big noise when playing in the tournament for the second time.

His unlikely win leaves Jones two more wins away from becoming only the third qualifier to win the famous title after Terry Griffiths in 1979 and Shaun Murphy in 2005.

Next up is a clash with either seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan or 2015 winner Stuart Bingham in the best-of-33 semi-finals when the Crucible turns into a one-table venue.

Judd Trump and Jak Jones at the Crucible (Image: PA)

Trump looked off the pace throughout the concluding session, and a dreadful missed pink in the 20th frame cued up Jones for a break of 61 that put clear air between the pair at 11-9.

A miss on an even easier yellow in the next sent Jones one frame from victory, and when Trump went in-off potting a red in the 22nd frame, Jones responded with a nerveless 106 clearance to finish.

“I thought Judd struggled quite a bit,” said Jones. “He started off with a century, just looking like typical Judd, but after I went in 3-1 at the interval I thought he was playing really slow.

“He wasn’t the fast-flowing aggressive player that he usually is. I noticed it from the beginning and it kind of surprised me, and I took advantage.”

Jones now faces an even bigger task of convincing his mum Debbie to watch him play live for the first time.

Despite ferrying her son to matches since he first turned professional at the age of 16, she is yet to watch him play either live or on the TV, and Jones does not believe the unique occasion of a Crucible semi-final will change her mind.

Jak Jones in action at the Crucible (Image: PA)

“She won’t even watch me on the TV,” said Jones. “At home now when I’m playing she’ll be doing the ironing or cleaning the house, that’s what she likes to do to keep herself occupied.

“She doesn’t like watching me, she pretends it’s not happening and waits for my dad to call her with the result. A Crucible semi-final is obviously a different matter and maybe she will come up, but she won’t come into the arena.”

The Gwent potter, who used to be mentored by Darren Morgan at the Red Triangle in Cross Keys, beat two Chinese opponents to make the last eight.

He upset Zhang Anda 10-4 in the first round and then downed Si Jiahui, who knocked out Cwm's Mark Williams, 13-9 in round two.

Jones has gone one better than last year when he was knocked out in the quarters by Mark Allen after victories against Ali Carter and former world champion Neil Robertson.