Kyren Wilson survived a stirring fightback from qualifier Jak Jones to win the world snooker title for the first time at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
Wilson struggled to contain his emotions as he wrapped up an 18-14 triumph over Jones, who fought valiantly after losing the first seven frames of the final, and reeled off three frames in a row from 17-11 to give himself some hope of an improbable revival.
Victory sealed a timely return to form for Wilson, who had arrived for his 10th tilt at the title on the back of his worst campaign in a decade, a solitary semi-final at the German Masters put into perspective by illness and injury afflicting his young family.
But he was made to work overtime by Jones, who looked down and out after losing the first seven frames, but staged a remarkable comeback and even threatened a maximum in the 30th frame before running aground after potting the first 12 reds and blacks.
Trailing by five frames upon Monday’s resumption, Jones had twice clawed his way back to a three-frame deficit, but was unable to go further and Wilson restored his healthy advantage for the start of the final session.
Wilson moved two away from the title by winning the first frame of the evening, but Jones served a timely reminder that he was up for the fight when he responded with his first century of the final to reduce the deficit to 16-11.
A dramatic 28th frame saw Jones, who sunk seeds Zhang Anda and Judd Trump on his marathon route to the final, clear the colours to force a re-spotted black, only for Wilson to move one frame away with an audacious pot off three cushions.
But Jones proved far from beaten, ensuring a midsession interval by taking the next with a break of 67, followed by his maximum bid then a flamboyant clearance to pink in the next to leave Wilson with plenty to think about.
The 32-year-old held himself together in the end but it was some revival from Jones, whose first target upon the start of the final day had been simply to avoid the indignity of becoming only the third player, after Jimmy White in 1993 and John Parrott in 1989, to lose the world final with a session to spare.
He managed that and more, breaks of 64 and 59 giving him the first two frames of the day to claw back to 11-8, and he looked a different player to the one who had confessed he was “knackered” after his tumultuous Sunday start.
But Jones’ hopes of making further inroads were curtailed by Wilson, who had looked out of sorts in the early stages, but unearthed breaks of 50 and 83 to reach the midsession interval having restored his five-frame overnight advantage at 13-8.
In a see-saw battle, Jones responded with a break of 90, his highest of the final so far, to haul back another frame, then capitalised when Wilson missed a red to middle with a coolly taken break of 67, which included a five-minute delay when a member of the audience was taken ill.
Wilson hit back again, winning a pivotal final frame of the afternoon session when Jones jawed a yellow, meaning all the Welshman’s good work had essentially come to nothing, and preserving an advantage that – for all Jones’ admirable spirit – he was never quite likely to relinquish.
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