00:00 So James, coming off the back of a fantastic crucible run by Welshman Jack Jones, I mean
00:09 this is a sports story that's completely set the world alight, it's a massive story, especially
00:15 in Wales as well. How important is it that there's another Welsh player, because we've
00:20 seen some fantastic Welsh snooker players over the years, he's made new ground and so
00:25 so close to becoming a world snooker champion. What was your take on it and how special is
00:31 his achievement?
00:33 No one saw this coming, it was amazing watching him for those two weeks. You were looking
00:37 at the draw, some tough matches for all the Welsh guys playing out there. You had the
00:44 one half of the draw, you had Ronnie and Judd in it and you had some of the Welsh guys there.
00:48 It was looking tough at one point, Mark Williams went out in the first round, but Jack Jones
00:53 just kept winning, he kept frustrating opponents, he kept getting through it and none of them
00:58 were really close in the end, the actual results of all the matches. They were all by three
01:03 or four clear frames every time. There's been a lot of talk about him obviously, even early
01:07 on he was frustrating opponents. He's not a young guy, but he's not done this before,
01:15 this is his first finally ever made it to, so to see this come out is amazing. Welsh
01:19 people, people who wouldn't have been watching snooker, I'm sure they would have been watching
01:22 him in the final at least, because it was so exciting. If he'd have done it, that would
01:28 have been one of the most impressive comebacks in sports history, not just snooker history
01:33 I think, but so close at the end. He did everyone in Wales proud and it was a remarkable achievement.
01:38 Obviously, you say how outspoken he is, he's a real character and he was quite frustrated
01:45 when he was announced to the stage in the final, because he was announced as he was
01:49 under pressure by Rob Walker. Claiming he was under pressure, but he actually beat world
01:55 champions Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham on his route there. It was quite incredible,
01:59 he had every right to go into that as a near favourite really, because it was Kyron Wilson
02:05 winning his first as well. How tough was that final, but his run to the final certainly
02:10 can't go undermined as well.
02:12 The final itself was some amazing teethy. For him to go down 7-0 at one point, he got
02:19 the last frame that night and you could see him giving a good little punch to the air,
02:23 he's happy about that, he got through, got one. At the start of the tournament, he would
02:28 have taken one frame in the final, that's all he would have needed to go into it. In
02:34 the next sessions, he got back into it and at the end of the first day, he was something
02:38 like 10-6 down I think it was. That's crazy, no one thought that was going to be the way,
02:43 or 10-7 down it might have been, but no one thought he was going to be at that position.
02:47 He didn't think he was going to be at that position, but he got through. To be honest,
02:51 I say that, the way he's played and the way he's spoken, he might have thought he was
02:55 going to get in that position. He thought he was in it all the way through.
02:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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