Duane Jones (snooker player)

Duane Jones (born 30 April 1993) is a Welsh professional snooker player.

Duane Jones
Born (1993-04-30) 30 April 1993 (age 31)
Mountain Ash, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales
Sport country Wales
Professional2015–2023, 2024-current
Highest ranking72 (February–March 2019)
Current ranking 93 (as of 11 November 2024)
Best ranking finishSemi-final (x1)

Career

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Junior

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Jones started playing snooker aged twelve, joining his local snooker club and playing on full sized tables after being impressed at how easy Jimmy White made the game look on television. He later became Welsh under-16 captain and the youngest player to win the singles in the Aberdare Valley Snooker League.[1]

Amateur

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During the 2010–11 season, Jones started to feature in Players Tour Championship events, as well as Q School and ranking events as a top up player.[1] In the 2013 Welsh Open, Jones beat former World Championship semi-finalist Andy Hicks in the opening round of qualifying 4–3, before a narrow 4–3 defeat to former world champion Neil Robertson in the following round.[2] Jones, lost at the final stage of Q School in 2013 (to Lee Spick) and 2014 (to Chris Melling),[1] however these performance did earn him the chance to compete in more ranking events as a top up amateur player.[1] The most notable result he recorded being a 5–2 win over top 16 player Joe Perry with breaks of 141, 137, 75 and 74 to qualify for the 2014 China Open, where he lost 5–3 to Yu Delu in the first round.[1]

Professional

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Jones was successful in the 2015 Q School and earned a tour card for the 2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons by beating Zhao Xintong 4–3 in his final match of the second event, in a black ball finish in the deciding frame.[1][3][4] His first win as a professional came at attempt number one as he defeated Sam Thistlewhite 5–1 in the 2015 Australian Goldfields Open qualifiers, before falling 5–1 to Sam Baird. Jones only won one more match in the rest of the season, which included losing his last eight.[5]

Jones qualified for the 2016 Indian Open with a 4–2 victory over Yu Delu and narrowly beat Liam Highfield 4–3 in the first round to reach the last 32 of a ranking event for the first time, where he lost 4–1 to Peter Ebdon. He got to the second round in three of the four Home Nations tournaments, but was knocked out each time.[6] He finished the year outside the top 64, but immediately regained his professional status with a victory in event two of Q-School. Wins over Simon Bedford, Peter Delaney, Declan Brennan, Hao Hu and Alex Davies ensured Jones would be back on the tour for the next two seasons.[7]

Jones regained a tour card by coming through the 23/24 Q Tour Global Playoff, winning event 1.

Performance and rankings timeline

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Tournament 2010/
11
2011/
12
2012/
13
2013/
14
2014/
15
2015/
16
2016/
17
2017/
18
2018/
19
2019/
20
2020/
21
2021/
22
2022/
23
2023/
24
2024/
25
Ranking[8][nb 1] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 2] [nb 3] 118 [nb 4] 79 [nb 5] 88 [nb 4] 75 [nb 2] [nb 3]
Ranking tournaments
Championship League Non-Ranking Event RR RR RR RR RR
Xi'an Grand Prix Tournament Not Held LQ
Saudi Arabia Masters Tournament Not Held 3R
English Open Tournament Not Held 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ A LQ
British Open Tournament Not Held 3R LQ A 1R
Wuhan Open Tournament Not Held A 3R
Northern Ireland Open Tournament Not Held 2R 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ
International Championship Not Held A A A A LQ LQ LQ 1R Not Held A LQ
UK Championship A A WD A A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ
Shoot Out Non-Ranking Event 1R 2R 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R 3R
Scottish Open Not Held MR Not Held 2R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R LQ LQ LQ
German Masters A A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ SF LQ 1R LQ LQ A
Welsh Open A A LQ 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R 1R 1R LQ LQ 2R
World Open A A LQ A Not Held 1R 1R LQ LQ Not Held A
World Grand Prix Tournament Not Held NR DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Players Championship[nb 6] DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
Tour Championship Tournament Not Held DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ DNQ
World Championship A A A A A LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ LQ
Former ranking tournaments
Wuxi Classic Non-Ranking LQ A A Tournament Not Held
Australian Goldfields Open NH A LQ A A LQ Tournament Not Held
Shanghai Masters A A A LQ A LQ LQ LQ Non-Ranking Not Held Non-Ranking
Indian Open Not Held A A NH 2R 1R 1R Tournament Not Held
China Open A A A 1R A A LQ 2R LQ Tournament Not Held
Riga Masters[nb 7] Tournament Not Held Minor-Rank LQ LQ LQ WD Tournament Not Held
China Championship Tournament Not Held NR LQ LQ LQ Tournament Not Held
WST Pro Series Tournament Not Held RR Tournament Not Held
Turkish Masters Tournament Not Held LQ Not Held
Gibraltar Open Tournament Not Held MR 2R 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R Not Held
WST Classic Tournament Not Held 1R Not Held
European Masters Tournament Not Held LQ LQ 1R LQ 3R 1R LQ 3R NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Six-red World Championship A NH A A A A A A A A Not Held LQ Not Held
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in the qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)
QF lost in the quarter-finals
SF lost in the semi-finals F lost in the final W won the tournament
DNQ did not qualify for the tournament A did not participate in the tournament WD withdrew from the tournament
NH / Not Held means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event means an event is/was a ranking event.
MR / Minor-Ranking Event means an event is/was a minor-ranking event.
  1. ^ It shows the ranking at the beginning of the season
  2. ^ a b c d e f He was an amateur
  3. ^ a b New players on the Main Tour don't have a ranking
  4. ^ a b Players qualified through Q School started the season without prize money ranking points
  5. ^ Players qualified One Year Ranking List started the season without ranking points
  6. ^ The event was called the Players Tour Championship Grand Final (2010/2011–2015/2016)
  7. ^ The event was called the Riga Open (2014/2015–2015/2016)

Career finals

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Amateur finals: 3 (2 titles)

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Outcome No. Year Championship Opponent in the final Score
Runner-up 1. 2008 Junior Pot Black   Jason Devaney 0–1
Winner 1. 2012 Welsh Amateur Championship   Elfed Evans 8–4
Winner 2. 2013 IBSF World 6-Reds Snooker Championship   Michael Judge 6–4

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Duane Jones". Pro Snooker Blog. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
  2. ^ "BetVictor Welsh Open Qualifiers (2013)". Snooker.org. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  3. ^ "World Snooker's Q School ends as eight new professionals get tour cards at Meadowside Leisure Centre". burtonmail.co.uk. 27 May 2015. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Q School Event Two Winners". World Snooker. 31 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Duane Jones 2015/2016". Snooker.org. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Duane Jones 2016/2017". Snooker.org. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Lam Secures Immediate Tour Return". World Snooker. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  8. ^ "Ranking History". Snooker.org. Retrieved 6 February 2011.
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