The Welshman is through to the last 16 for the third time in his career.
Jamie Jones said he is proud of his comeback season on the Main Tour after beating Stephen Maguire 10-4 in the World Snooker Championship first round on Sunday.
The Welshman, a quarter-finalist in Sheffield nine years ago, lost the opening three frames to the Scot but proceeded to win ten out of the next eleven for a comfortable victory.
It’s the third time the 33 year-old has safely negotiated the opening hurdle from his four appearances at the Crucible, whereas Maguire’s misery in round one persisted with an eighth early exit in the last eleven editions of the World Championship.
In truth, the result wasn’t that big of a surprise with Jones ranked inside the top 16 on the provisional one-year rankings list and world number eight Maguire languishing all the way down at number 46 after a terrible campaign by his standards.
Less than a year ago, Jones was scrapping it out at Q School in an effort to regain the tour card that he lost following his suspension for failing to report his knowledge of match fixing to the authorities.
The former ranking event semi-finalist was not under suspicion of cheating, but his story and the verdict handed to him served as a warning for many on the circuit to always adhere to the rules that are in place.
Jones has bounced back strongly during his comeback campaign and his World Championship performances so far, which includes three wins in the qualifying rounds from last week, will see him make a return to the top 64 in the official world rankings standings.
“I have said in interviews all season how proud I am of myself,” Jamie Jones, whose season included a run to the semi-finals of the Scottish Open in December, said in his post-match press conference.
“I felt like I lost everything, but if anyone is struggling with anything then I think it’s important to talk to people, which I did, and make positive choices, which I did.”
“It is easier said than done – it is so easy to make the wrong choices – but maybe I’m a little bit of proof how making good choices can work out for people.
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“You can’t even compare (me in 2012 and me now), I’ve always had an eye for a pot which is probably all I had back then.
“I’m a much more rounded player now. I said to my mate at the interval when I was 9-4 up, ‘I’m not going to get ahead of myself and I’m just going to make it difficult for him.’
“In the past maybe I would have reached for the line, but I was prepared to wait and I think that just comes with experience.
“I don’t feel as much pressure as the qualifiers – maybe the expectation isn’t as much or something so I can just really enjoy the experience.
“I love the longer matches and I get to play first to 13 now, so it’s good.”
Meanwhile, world number three Neil Robertson, Masters champion Yan Bingtao, and former World Championship semi-finalist David Gilbert each made it safely into the second round on day two as well.
Live coverage continues on the BBC and Eurosport.
Jamie Jones has bounced back very well. Certainly the long absence has helped him refocus and reflect, and added to his determination to make up for lost time. It will be interesting to see if the same thing happens with Cao Yupeng, who qualified a few days ago from the ‘Chinese Q School’ in Beijing. It will also be interesting to see how much public support is given to a player who did fix matches, even though he was in a terrible situation at that time.
Yeah I saw that but haven’t had time to report on it yet. Will put up a piece sometime this week. The four qualifiers from that Q School are all quite interesting in one way or another.
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