Kyren Wilson took control of the World Championship final, taking a 7-1 lead over a shocked Jak Jones.
Wilson was considered the heavy favorite heading into the match, with experience from losing in the 2020 final seen as a major advantage.
The burden of favoritism did not weigh heavily on Wilson’s shoulders as he opened the match with a century and faced an opponent completely at sea in his first appearance in a World Championship final.
Wilson started the match in stunning fashion, producing a century in the first frame of a Crucible final for the first time since Stephen Hendry’s ton against Jimmy White in 1993.
The punt total of 116 came after Jones caught the blue with his safety and Wilson hit a stunning red as the starter. What followed was top-notch snooker.
Wilson opens match against Jones with 129, first century in first frame of a world final since 1993
The first was a clean kill. The second wasn’t, but it still went to Wilson after Jones passed up a few chances to calm the nerves and get a frame on the board.
Jones’ problems continued in the third as he missed the rest by a wide margin.
Wilson countered with 47 before missing a straight blue, but he was not punished as Jones played a terrible positional shot from a red and missed the black to fall behind 3-0.
But there were no signs of life from Jones in the fourth this time, as Wilson made 66 to sweep the first four frames.
Wilson was not infallible and missed a red in the fifth frame, but Jones wasted his meter – splitting the reds after missing his pot – and his opponent punished the mistake with a 62 run.
The onslaught continued in the sixth, as Jones mashed a red and Wilson seized the error with a 125 break to extend his lead.
A huge cheer greeted a fluke from Jones in the seventh, but he didn’t capitalize on his share of luck as a terrible positional shot on black ended his break.
“Like the party” – Huge cheer greets Jones’ fluke against Wilson
Wilson had been relentless in his progress to the final, and he had Jones watching uncomfortably in his seat as he broke 90 to put seven frames on the spin.
Jones took one positive from the wreckage as he took the final frame with a break of 65, but a mountain lies ahead of him ahead of Sunday night’s second session.
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