World Snooker Championship | Kyren Wilson is the 2024 world champion – resists comeback Jak Jones and wins 18-14

While Jak Jones did his utmost in the second and third sessions to make up for his deficit to Kyren Wilson, especially in the first session, it was still TheWarrior who entered the final session with a large numerical advantage: after Monday afternoon it was 15-10 for the number twelve in the world.

At The Silent Assassin the task of winning at least three frames before the Mid Session Interval and not allowing himself to be placed with his back against the wall. Once Master of Ceremonies Rob Walker had called both gentlemen into The Crucible Theater for one last time, the final session started.

The Welshman seemed to make a good start, but missed the black ball after a number of difficult situations. Jones was also not given a second chance, after which Wilson – as was often the case in this final battle – got the job on a silver platter.

However, the 2020 finalist – when he lost 18-8 to Ronnie O’Sullivan – saw his own attempt go wrong after the first red. Then the world number 44 forced Wilson onto the defensive. He tried a ‘hit and hope escape’ and apologized in advance.

Jones accepted the apology, but was not merciless. So it was Wilson’s turn again to win this difficult first frame of the evening. He was not able to do that in one go either, but with the third opportunity the end was near for Jones.

Wilson then got himself going with a special fluke in the 27th frame. When returning from a missed red for a long pot, the global number twelve needed a strange contact, but it helped the Brit.

Unable to continue the break, a crazy Safety behind green provided the opening for a second attempt. This happened via a beautiful plant, but a little later it went wrong again.

Jones contrasted this with a beautiful plant ranging from red to black. So it rained miracle balls in that small hall in Sheffield. The Welshman put together a nice break and even achieved his first Century Break ever in a World Cup final: the total was 105 points.

A nice lunge then helped Wilson into the saddle. However, he resigned after 37 points, after a special miss on a simple red. Could Jones at least enforce a Mid Session Interval?

Not yet, because he also made a mistake on a perhaps even easier red ball. The Welshman was extremely disappointed, but saw that his British opponent had lost his way from the blue ball towards the seven remaining colours.

So Jones got one more chance, but he got himself into trouble with two errors. There was only one way he could make up for that: one respotted black enforce. There were still seven points on the table with a difference of seven to achieve this. Jones pocketed the black and so we went to a magnificent apotheosis in frame 28.

The 30-year-old Welsh player then had a great opportunity from Wilson, but missed the almost indispensable long shot. Through an unprecedented match over three cushions, the Englishman brought himself within one frame of the world title.

Wilson was particularly eager to finish it in one go, but did not play the first red – and his cue ball well. Jones then did what cost him the entire final battle: made an inexplicable miss at the beginning of a makeable break, this time on black.

An absolute beauty gave Jones the move again. A break with some difficult pots now went ahead; 67 points ensured that Jones, who did not notice this himself, could go to the break. Was there a miracle flavor in the tea for him?

Jones made a huge miss as the players returned from the break, but was lucky not to leave anything for Wilson. A phenomenal lunge, the only opportunity for success, helped the Welshman get going again.

The world number 44 made The Crucible dream of a 147 break. He chose even the most difficult options so that he could continue to combine red with black. On the thirteenth red ball, Jones just couldn’t score a Century Break, things went wrong The Silent Assassin. He received a standing ovation from the audience in return.

Was Wilson starting to feel nervous after all? TheWarrior started to miss opportunities that he had previously taken and occasionally luck was not on his side split. Jones put 47 points on the scoreboard (the 6 he made earlier brought the Welshman to 53) and put away a brilliant snooker behind green.

Wilson’s escape was also impressive. A sanitary stop in the middle of the frame provided an intermezzo, after which the beautiful battle for a difficult frame continued. Jones once again showed himself to be extremely resilient and scored 17-14. Were we in for a crazy comeback here?

New frame, new chance for Wilson – although this was an easy black miss. The global number twelve then played some nice snooker. Although Jones could see a red full, he tried twice – without success – through the tape. That meant he had to hit a red on the third attempt, otherwise he would lose the frame and his opponent would be world champion.

Wilson was able to get a new red, but again he didn’t have a good one run of the ball; Luck was not exactly on his side, so he decided to look for luck with attacking play. Was this the key to success for the Englishman?

No, as it turned out, because a little later it stopped again due to poor positioning. This time Jones was kind enough to lend a hand. The helping hand was again refused, which led to a scrappy frame led.

A missed double by the Welshman was the final blow: Wilson provided a table to dream about with a beautiful plant. It took him a lot of effort, but TheWarrior showed his warrior heart and resisted the return of the absolute revelation of this World Cup, Jak Jones. In the end it was 18-14.