Jak Jones was crowned British Open champion having defeated Mark Selby 10-6 in Sunday's final in Cheltenham.
It capped a remarkable week for the Welshman who knocked out Judd Trump a day earlier in the semi-finals, that having claimed his first tournament win as recently as July at the Championship League.
For Selby, his disappointment was clear, a hectic schedule in the Far East following a fine personal start to the new campaign seemingly catching up with him as he fell away in the latter stages, allowing Jones to win five of the last six frames as he surged to victory.
Selby told World Snooker Tour afterwards: "Jak played great from start to finish, he scored well and his safety was good. He was the best player on on the day.
"I felt it was only a matter of time before he started winning titles."
MASSIVE steal in the final! 😮#BritishOpen | @Unibet pic.twitter.com/Jof2SK3gen
— WST (@WeAreWST) September 6, 2026
The match had promised to go the distance for much of the day, and there was nothing to split the pair at the end of the first session which finished 4-4.
And the evening session was running to script until Selby missed a golden chance to level at 6-5, handing Jones a two-frame cushion and crucial momentum.
From there, Jones grew stronger while Selby's own game began to unravel, a couple of uncharacteristic errors halting any thoughts of a comeback from the Leicester veteran.
And though frame 16 was closely-contested as Selby continued to battle away, he was unable to pot a tough final green, and Jones did the rest to secure a milestone triumph.
Jones said: "I’m over the moon. I felt I dragged Mark down a little bit throughout the day. I just kind of battled away and made a few 50 and 60 breaks.
CAPTIVATING ENDING! 👌
— WST (@WeAreWST) September 6, 2026
Jak Jones is the British Open champion - and boy, he deserves it!#BritishOpen | @unibet pic.twitter.com/tXmTy8KEm5
"But to beat someone like Mark, who’s an all-time great and has won everything in the game, is incredible.
"It's definitely the best day of my career. Winning a ranking event is better than coming runner-up in a World Championship.
"To finally win a big tournament like this – I thought it might not happen. It's an unbelievable start to the season for me, so I'm buzzing.
"It has been tough for 15 years, I have been battling away but haven't really achieved that much, so to start winning titles feels amazing."
