The 2026 British Open final on Sunday will be contested between Mark Selby and Jak Jones at the Centaur in Cheltenham.
Both players reached the title-deciding affair after orchestrating 6-3 victories over their semi-final opponents on Saturday.
For Selby, his hard-fought triumph over Liam Highfield was expected, but a win for Jones over Judd Trump didn’t seem as likely.
The latter failed to reproduce the standard of his dominant quarter-final defeat of new world number one Zhao Xintong on Friday.
Jones took full advantage to advance to another ranking event final, his second of the 2026/27 season having already won the Championship League Snooker title at the start of the campaign.
After his surprise run to the final of the World Championship in 2024, the Welshman struggled for a long time for form and rarely threatened at the business end of events.
But securing a maiden trophy in July has seemingly transformed his confidence, and one of the biggest paydays of his career is now firmly within reach.
Even so, Jones will enter the 2026 British Open final as the obvious underdog for glory.
For Selby, the 2024 champion has also been in fine fettle this term with a lucrative triumph at the China Open in Taiyuan already under his belt.
In fact, collecting the £100,000 top prize here would take Selby to within striking distance of Zhao’s world number one position – underling his consistency over the last couple of years generally.
Selby began this week complaining of jet lag after making the long trip back from China, and he struggled to get through his opening three games in deciders.
But as has often been the case during his career, the 43 year-old has grown in stature the longer he has stayed in the running.
The showdown on Sunday represents a repeat of Selby’s first-round clash against Jones at the World Snooker Championship in April.
A 10-2 demolition job at the Crucible Theatre in Selby’s favour makes for ominous reading for Jones, and the 33 year-old has only beaten the four-time world champion once from eight previous attempts.
Logic points toward Selby lifting the Clive Everton Trophy for the second time, but few expected Jones to beat Trump.
The world number 31 has a knack of making games difficult for his opponents, albeit Selby is the master of the dark arts of the baize.
It promises to be an intriguing battle with the season’s fourth ranking crown up for grabs.
The 2026 British Open final between Mark Selby and Jak Jones will be played over 19 frames, with sessions commencing at 13:00 and 19:00 BST.
Featured photo credit: WST
