Jones is so hungry for success in Belfast

WELSH snooker star Jak Jones has absolutely no idea how he has made it to the Dafabet Northern Ireland Open second round.

But after a seven-frame epic lasting more than five hours against a man who lives five minutes down the road from him in Lee Walker, the relief at victory was palpable in Belfast.

Coming into the tournament with little form, Jones would have quite happily taken any win as it came in the Waterfront Hall.

And with Walker in much the same spirits, that made for a slog that neither of them had seen coming, eventually ending with a tense battle on the colours – even if it did leave the world No.86 feeling peckish.

“I’m starving after that, I’ve not eaten since breakfast,” he said.

“Lee will be gutted and I would have been the same if I’d lost, but it can take a game like this just to kickstart and give you that confidence.

“I didn’t expect to win and I’ve managed to do that – there have been so many matches I’ve lost which I should have won so to have things the other way around feels nice.

“Even in the last frame, I potted a really good green and I’ve got an easy run to win, but with the way the match went you could just see something going wrong which it did.

“A match like me should help me relax, I didn’t have a clue how long we were going for – I just knew it was a long time.”

The match was far from pretty at times, but Jones still finds his name in the next round, set to face the legendary Jimmy White.

He’ll be joined by Mark Williams, who wasted little time getting the better of fellow experienced pro James Wattana in a whitewash.

Breaks of 55 and 90 did the damage for the two-time world champion, though tougher challenges are set to come with Tom Ford the opponent in the next round today.

It was not to be for Jackson Page however, with the teenage potting sensation dumped out by Liang Wenbo, the world No.15, 4-1.

There were also defeats for Michael White and Matthew Stevens, while Daniel Wells gets his Northern Ireland campaign up and running against David Gilbert.

Ryan Day also takes to the table, likely needing a victory over John Astley to ensure his bid to qualify for the Masters doesn’t come to an end just yet.

Watch the Northern Ireland Open LIVE on Eurosport, Eurosport Player and Quest with Colin Murray and daily studio analysis with Neal Foulds.