Jamie Jones (born 14 February 1988) is a Welsh professional snooker player from Neath. At the age of 14 he was the youngest ever player to make a maximum 147 break in competition, a record that has since been beaten by Judd Trump. At the 2012 World Snooker Championship, Jones reached his first ranking quarter-final. He made his second appearance in the quarter-finals of a Triple Crown tournament at the 2016 UK Championship.
In October 2018, Jones was suspended from the snooker tour pending a match-fixing investigation into a 2016 International Championship qualifier between Graeme Dott and David John. In January 2019, Jones was acquitted of match-fixing, however admitted to having prior knowledge of an approach to fix the aforementioned match and failing to report it, and was subsequently banned for a year. While the ban finished in October 2019, he ended the 2018âÂÂ19 season outside the top 64 and was relegated from the tour. Jones rejoined the tour two seasons later via Q-School.
In 2002, aged 14, Jones became the youngest-ever player to make a 147 in an official event, a record that has since been beaten by Judd Trump. Jones began his professional career by playing Challenge Tour in 2004, at the time the second-level professional tour. He qualified for the Main Tour for 2006/2007 by finishing top of the 2005/06 Welsh rankings, although he could not maintain his place there. His best result in his first season as a professional was to the last 48 of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix. After another spell on the tour in 2008âÂÂ09, after which he was again relegated, he regained a place for the 2010âÂÂ11 season due to his position in the International Open Series, a qualifying route to the professional ranks.
Jones started the new season by winning three qualifying matches in the Shanghai Masters, beating Kuldesh Johal, Jimmy Michie and Adrian Gunnell before losing to Stephen Lee. After reaching the final of Players Tour Championship â Event 5, Jones rose to 47 in the rankings at the end of the season.
Jones made it to the quarter-finals of three Players Tour Championship events, but failed to progress further in any of them. However, his consistent performances meant he finished 23rd in the Order of Merit and therefore qualified for the 2012 PTC Finals, where he reached the last 16 of a ranking event for the first time by defeating reigning World Champion John Higgins 4 frames to 3, after being 1âÂÂ3 down. This set up a match with Andrew Higginson, which he lost 3âÂÂ4. Jones won two qualifying matches to reach the China Open, but lost 3âÂÂ5 to Lu Ning in the wildcard round.
Jones finished the season by qualifying for the 2012 World Championship, beating Ricky Walden 10âÂÂ2 in the final qualifying round. He then beat Shaun Murphy 10âÂÂ8 in the first round, scoring two centuries. In the second round he beat Andrew Higginson 13âÂÂ10, included a 135 break in the penultimate frame, to reach his first ever ranking event quarter-final. In the quarter-final he was defeated 11âÂÂ13 by former world number 2 Ali Carter, but made back-to-back clearances of 138 and 132 in frames 11 and 12, coming back from 12âÂÂ8 to 12âÂÂ11 before eventual runner-up Carter won the match. Jones made seven centuries during the tournament, with only eventual winner Ronnie O'Sullivan making more. Jones finished the season ranked a career high world number 29, meaning he had risen 18 places during the year.
Following his superb run in last season's World Championship, Jones endured a difficult 2012âÂÂ13 season. He could only win three matches in ranking event qualifiers all year, with his sole appearance in the main draw coming at the Shanghai Masters. He beat Jimmy White in qualifying and Lu Ning in the wildcard round, but was then defeated 5âÂÂ2 by John Higgins in the first round. He fared better in the Players Tour Championship events, with his best result coming at the Paul Hunter Classic, where he had wins over Jimmy Robertson, Jak Jones and Li Yan, before losing 4âÂÂ2 to compatriot Ryan Day. He finished 67th on the PTC Order of Merit. Jones could not repeat last season's run to The Crucible as he was beaten 10âÂÂ9 by Liam Highfield in the third round of World Championship Qualifying. His disappointing year was reflected in the rankings as he dropped 11 places to finish world number 40.
Jones reached the first round of the 2013 Wuxi Classic, but lost 5âÂÂ4 to Liang Wenbo. He qualified for five more ranking events but was beaten in the opening round of each. He had a very good year in the eight minor-ranking European Tour events, losing in the last 16 in two of them. His deepest finish came at the Kay Suzanne Memorial Cup where he beat Ian Burns 4âÂÂ2 in the quarter-finals. In the semis he was edged out 4âÂÂ3 by Judd Trump and finished 15th on the Order of Merit to qualify for the Finals for the third time in four years. Jones lost 4âÂÂ2 to Mark Allen in the first round. His drop down the rankings continued as he ended the season as the world number 55.
At the 2014 Wuxi Classic, Jones defeated Ken Doherty 5âÂÂ2, before losing 5âÂÂ3 to Marco Fu in the second round. He won three matches to qualify for the Australian Goldfields Open and thrashed Stephen Maguire 5âÂÂ0, before being the victim of a whitewash in the second round by Neil Robertson. The next match Jones could win at the venue stage of a ranking event was at the Welsh Open, 4âÂÂ0 over Chris Norbury. In the second round he knocked out Shaun Murphy 4âÂÂ3 and stated that he plays his best snooker in the televised stages of tournaments. In an all-Welsh affair, Jones lost 4âÂÂ2 to Mark Williams in the third round. He then reached the last 16 in back-to-back ranking tournaments, losing 4âÂÂ1 to Thepchaiya Un-Nooh at the Indian Open and 5âÂÂ3 to Murphy at the China Open. Jones qualified for his second World Championship by beating Adam Duffy 10âÂÂ8 in the final round. He suffered a heavy 10âÂÂ2 loss to Neil Robertson in the first round. However, Jones halted his slide down the rankings as he climbed 17 spots this season to end it 38th.
After edging Mark Davis 5âÂÂ4 in the opening round of the Australian Goldfields Open, Jones thrashed Mark Selby 5âÂÂ1 and said that he hoped running during the off-season would give himself a better chance of winning more matches this season. He played friend and former schoolmate Michael White in the quarter-finals with Jones recovering from 4âÂÂ2 down to tie the match at 4âÂÂ4. In the deciding frame White made a break of 56, before missing a red and Jones cleared with a 66 to reach the first ranking semi-final of his career. He raced into a 4âÂÂ0 lead over John Higgins, but then lost six frames in a row to exit the tournament. Jones beat Ian Glover 6âÂÂ4 and Xiao Guodong 6âÂÂ1 at the UK Championship and made two centuries against Selby, but lost 6âÂÂ5 with Selby stating that Jones had deserved to win the match. He played in three more ranking events, but lost in the first round of each and his season was ended with a 10âÂÂ5 loss to Hamza Akbar in World Championship qualifying, who had previously lost all eight of his matches on tour.
Jones dropped just two frames in reaching the quarter-finals of the 2016 Paul Hunter Classic, but then lost 4âÂÂ1 to Tom Ford. At the UK Championship he saw off Eden Sharav 6âÂÂ1 in the first round and then had a trio of 6âÂÂ2 victories over Alan McManus, Ding Junhui and David Gilbert to mean he had made two ranking event quarter-finals in the same season for the first time in his career. Jones had a great chance to reach his second semi-final as he led Marco Fu 5âÂÂ2, but he would go on to lose 6âÂÂ5. Jones was 4âÂÂ0 ahead of Graeme Dott in the final qualifying round for the World Championship, but was beaten 10âÂÂ8.
Jones made his first official maximum break in the third frame of his last-64 match against Lee Walker at the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic. It was his first professional maximum break.
Jones returned to the tour from a ban after qualifying through Q-School. He had a strong start to the season, including a run to the semi-finals of the 2020 Scottish Open, where he ultimately lost 6âÂÂ1 to Mark Selby. Jones continued to perform well in tournaments, and at the 2021 World Championship, a 10âÂÂ5 victory over Li Hang in the final qualifying round saw him make his fourth Crucible appearance. In the first round, he faced Stephen Maguire, and having trailed 3âÂÂ0 in the early stages of that match, he won ten out of the next eleven frames to run out a 10-4 winner. He then faced Stuart Bingham in the last 16, and although the first session was shared 4-4, Jones only won two more frames, losing the match 13âÂÂ6. He finished the season ranked 55th.
Jones had a much quieter season than his previous one, which included a first round exit at the 2021 UK Championship, where he lost 6âÂÂ1 to Cao Yupeng. At the Scottish Open, he reached the last 16, where he lost 4âÂÂ3 to Ronnie O'Sullivan. At the Gibraltar Open, he reached the quarter-finals, before losing 4âÂÂ1 to Ricky Walden. At the 2022 World Championship, he beat Mark Joyce 6âÂÂ1, and Tom Ford 10âÂÂ5 in qualifying. In the main stages of the event, he faced Mark Selby in the first round, and having trailed 8âÂÂ3, a late fightback saw him only lose 10âÂÂ7.