Key events
Match report
Here is Aaron Bower’s report from another memorable night at the Crucible. Long may it reign. Thanks for joining me, and goodnight.
Wilson is the second first-time winner in a row after Luca Brecel’s triumph last year – and he’s up to No 3 in the world rankings, bumping the Belgian down to No 4. There’s also a new world No 1, in the shape of Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen.
Provisional world top 16: 1) Mark Allen, 2) Judd Trump, 3) Kyren Wilson, 4) Luca Brecel, 5) Ronnie O’Sullivan, 6) Mark Selby, 7) Shaun Murphy, 8) Ding Junhui, 9) Mark Williams, 10) Ali Carter, 11) Gary Wilson, 12) Zhang Anda, 13) Tom Ford, 14) Jak Jones, 15) Barry Hawkins, 16) John Higgins.
Here’s Barry Hearn to dish out the prizes – Jak Jones gets £200,000 as runner-up, while Kyren Wilson will collect £500,000, and the famous old trophy, which he kisses and holds up to the rafters. Wilson lifts his kids up on to the table as the ticker tape rains down. It’s the moment that every player who ever picked up a cue dreams about.
And now the world champion, Kyren Wilson. “Can you imagine how embarrassing it would have been if I’ve lost, with Bailey dressed like that?” he says, pointing at his son in full snooker garb, lounging on his dad’s chair. Is Judd Trump still Bailey’s favourite player? It seems so from the lad’s reaction.
Wilson is still choked up, thanking his mum and dad – “they remortgaged their house, gave me everything to try and make this happen” – and says sorry to Jones for “my outburst at the end.” He thanks the crowd for “making this so special – I was robbed of this in the Covid final, and I’ll never forget this.” Winning it probably helps, too.
Hazel Irvine, ever the unflappable pro, is straight over to the runner-up, Jak Jones. “About a month ago, I was playing my first qualifier – it’s been quite a month,” he says. “Kyren and his family really deserve this title,” he adds. “He’s got such a solid all-round game. I didn’t have much hope after going 7-0 down yesterday.”
Jones will be back next season – his run to the final means he’s into the top 16 – and he hopes it will help him kick on. He thanks his wife, dad and mum, who is here watching him live for the first time. Like many people who get undue stick on social media, he seems like a nice, down-to-earth sort of bloke.
Kyren Wilson wins the 2024 World Snooker Championship!
He led 7-0 on Sunday, and then 17-11 earlier tonight – but after an agonising 90-minute wait, watching Jak Jones claw back three frames, Kyren Wilson gets over the line! He is the world champion for the first time, and is hugging his kids on the Crucible floor.
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 71-4) Another missable red drops in, and as frame-ball disappears, Wilson lets out a roar of “come on!” to his coach, family and friends. The blue follows, and the title is his. He looks close to tears and pretty much abandons the break, sticking his tongue out in sheer relief.
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 51-4) Another red rolled into the middle, and now Wilson stuns in the brown. His arm will weigh a ton, but the finish line is in sight …
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 46-4) Wilson knocks in the red and gets perfectly on the next off the yellow. A little nudge into the pack, and this is now a chance to win frame, match and championship – but he drifts out of position and leaves a tough pink into the middle. But he takes his time and drops it in!
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 29-4) Wilson takes on a tough long red and hits it at full tilt, rattling it in both top pockets. Jones is going for a back-double into the middle – the Higgins – but misses it and leaves it on. He holds up a hand in frustration. Has he just handed Kyren Wilson the trophy?
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 29-4) It’s now 90 minutes since Wilson won a frame and he’ll have to sit and wait again as Jones pots red and green. He takes on a tricky red to the middle, and hits the near jaw – but there’s nothing easy on for his opponent.
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 29-0) Everything is just such hard work for Wilson now, though, and he runs into the blue off his first red. He takes on a green with the rest and rattles it in the jaws. He’s beginning to look a little deflated.
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 28-0) Wilson has to play safe off the bunch, but hits the yellow and is lucky to see the cueball roll up to the cushion. Jones takes on the pot, and is so very close, but it rattles out, and it’s another opportunity for Wilson.
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 28-0) Wilson knocks it in but doesn’t get on the black – the rub of the green has deserted him – but he’s on the blue, which he cuts into the middle pocket. The next red clears a path to the black, he knocks it in – but loses control of the white, and is back on nothing again!
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 14-0) Now then – Jones has missed twice when there are reds he can clearly hit; so another miss here would hand Wilson frame, match and world title. He’s not getting the trophy that easily, Jones taking a more straightforward shot this time – but he does leave a red over the pocket.
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 14-0) Wilson puts Jones in bother with his next safety shot, and he misses twice, catching the pink with his second attempt. A bit of admin for Paul Collier, the referee who is overseeing his final match before retirement here tonight.
“Thank you for your commentary,” writes Val Crawford. “We are two new snooker fans following your blog from France. We can’t watch it on the telly. It is so exciting! We’re hooked. Well I am, my other half Colin is asleep.” Merci Val, et bienvenue.
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 4-0) Jones takes on an ambitious plant into the middle, and misses. Wilson has a gettable pot to the middle … and misses. Jones plays safe, with the black blocking out the bottom-right corner pocket.
Wilson 17-14 Jones (Frame score: 4-0) Kyren Wilson is one frame from winning the biggest prize in his sport – yet who among us would trade places with him now? Still, Jones offers him a shot at a long red to settle his nerves – and he takes it. Can he finally set up a match-winning chance? No – an awkward black with the rest rattles in the jaws!
Jones wins the frame! Wilson 17-14 Jones The pink leaves Wilson needing snookers, and Jones makes sure by rolling the final red along the cushion. “Are we about to see something special?” asks Dennis Taylor. He’s still three frames behind, but Kyren Wilson may be starting to sweat. He has to watch Jones fluke the yellow and pot the blue in exhibition style, to boot. Frame score: 22-80
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 22-54) Wilson takes on a long red, misses it by some distance, and leaves an awkward chance for Jones. With the lead he has, he’ll surely go for it – and it in goes! Aside from a fly invading the table, there are no obstacles to a third straight frame for the qualifier.
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 22-53) He opts against taking it on – he may have not quite had the potting angle. Instead, it’s dispatched up the table, with the other red covered by the black.
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 22-53) Both players are back, and Jones escapes the snooker but leaves a tough red along the cushion. Wilson takes it on – and drains it! Nerves of steel, and he’s on the blue – but after rolling that in, he’s only on another very tricky cut …
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 16-53) Wilson isn’t on a colour, so opts to free the yellow and put the cueball behind the green. And Jones has asked for a comfort break – Wilson decides he’s also going to step out of the arena. The tension’s rising …
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 16-53) Wilson escapes quite beautifully, rolling up to the red and leaving everything safe. Jones sends the cueball back up to the baulk cushion, but allows Wilson to split the reds with his next safety shot. He does so – but then knocks the yellow safe. Jones, though, leaves him a shot-to-nothing on a long red – and Wilson pots it!
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 15-53) Jak Jones sees off an awkward pink to the right middle, but he still has to break up the clutch of four reds around the black – and he looks a little straight on the pink to do so. He tries a shot with power and topspin, but misses the reds – end of break, but he plays a delightful safety in behind the green.
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 15-20) And now, Jak Jones is punishing these errors – he slams in a long red and is back among the balls, albeit with the black still out of commission …
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 15-6) Jones escapes the snooker but leaves a red on to the middle and Wilson pounces. His turn to try and break the pack, but he leaves only one red to the middle. It’s close, but just slips out of the unforgiving pocket. Another half-chance gets away from the champion-elect …
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 9-6) Wilson rolls in a long red but has to take the black, even though it is tied up once returned to its spot. He pots a fine red into the middle but ends up behind the pink, close to the baulk cushion. A very delicate touch later, avoiding the miscue, and he has Jones thoroughly snookered.
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 0-6) Jones has a chance to break the bunch open off the blue, but instead clanks into the pink. End of break, and we’re into a safety battle.
Wilson 17-13 Jones (Frame score: 0-1) Jones looks far the more relaxed player now, perhaps understandably, and he gets another opening in frame 31 as Wilson misses a long red.
Jones wins the frame! Wilson 17-13 Jones Jones comes up short with his effort along the side cushion, missing out on what would have been a very strange maximum. He started with a wild miss, got a bit of luck, and he’s now cut the cap down to four. Frame score: 0-96
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-96) There’s still a lot to do, with most of the remaining reds near the right middle – and he misses one chance to free a red from the cushion. He’s left a mid-range red, which he knocks in, and gets onto that awkward red off the black …
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-73) The first job for Jones is to make the frame safe, and he pots a ninth black to leave a frame-ball red that will require the rest. It’s in, and now he can dream …
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-49) It won’t be at the forefront of his mind, but Jones is still on a maximum here, having racked up six reds and six blacks. A seventh red is dropped into the middle and he’s on the black again, albeit hampered slightly.
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-32) As Stephen Hendry points out, the balls are laid out here like a practice routine – but can Jak Jones navigate them? He opts for a tricky snick into the corner with easier reds on, but makes it and follows up with the black.
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-8) Wilson is forced to play safe and leaves Jones only a tricky long red – which he drains, and cannons into position on the black! Now, he’s the man in amongst the balls with a chance to build a lead …
Wilson 17-12 Jones (Frame score: 0-0) Wilson misses a tentative long-range cut, leaving a red on for Jones. He has to power it in to get position, but gets nowhere near, clattering into the pack … but somehow leaving not a single red on.
The players are back out. Can Kyren Wilson get the frame he needs straight away, or does this final have another twist in it?
Ryan Day has won the shot of the championship for a cue-bending screw shot against Barry Hawkins. Fair play to him, but for me it had to be that John Higgins double to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat against Mark Allen.
“It’s a pretty intriguing watch this final … mainly because it’s so bad,” writes Andrew Harper. “It’s got to be up there as one of the worst quality finals in Crucible history. Ridiculous amount of unforced errors from both players throughout the match.”
True, although that’s perhaps to be expected when you have a favourite trying to win his first title, against an outsider who has never been in a match of this magnitude. And as previous years have shown, even the best players can melt into a sorry, pub-league level puddle in this arena.
Mid-session interval: Kyren Wilson is in his dressing room, eating fruit, drinking coffee and chatting to a guy who looks like he’s come dressed as David Brent. Time for some music; we’ll be back soon to see if and when Wilson can get the job done.