Jamie Jones capped an impressive return from a one-year suspension by booking his place at the Crucible with a 10-5 win over China’s Li Hang at the final round of the World Championship qualifiers in Sheffield.
The 33-year-old Jones admitted he was facing up to the end of his career when he fell off the tour at the end of the 2019 season following a ban for failing to report a corrupt approach, although he was cleared of match-fixing.
Jones, who reached the quarter-finals on his Crucible debut in 2012 and made two subsequent appearances prior to his ban, battled to regain his tour card via Q School last year and believes his game has benefited from the experience.
Former Crucible quarter finalist Jamie Jones will return to snooker's spiritual home once again. He is the third player through after beating Li Hang 10-5. It will be his fourth appearance at the Theatre of Dreams #ilovesnooker pic.twitter.com/ZZYeI9lpLv — World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) April 13, 2021
Jones said: “I had resigned myself to never playing again, but when Q School was getting closer I thought, I’m no good at anything else, so I might as well give it a go.
“I thought I would take a year or two, but I got to the semi-finals of the Scottish Open, and did OK at the UK Championship, and now I’ve got to the Crucible. At the start of the year I would have taken earning a few quid and getting back on my feet.
“Starting at the bottom again, the road back just seemed so long, but I just took one step at a time. My attitude is a lot more laid-back, and I’m playing with freedom, which is something I’ve been trying to do for 15 years. I feel like I can still be a match for anyone out there.”
Last year’s surprise quarter-finalist Kurt Maflin also booked an immediate return to the Crucible as he swept to a 10-4 victory over Robert Milkins, and Matthew Selt sealed a third career appearance with a 10-3 win over Scott Donaldson.
Veteran Mark Davis recovered from a 7-2 deficit to beat Jamie Clarke 10-8 and reach the Crucible for the 12th time in his career.
The qualifying competition’s top seed, Zhou Yuelong, crashed 10-7 to Liam Highfield, but three Chinese players – Lyu Haotian, Liang Wenbo and Tian Pengfei – all made it through.
