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 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.”
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
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Liang Wenbo is our final qualifier from ????????? ??? ???? ?
He reaches the Crucible for the eighth time with a 10-7 win over Lu Ning.
How will the ??????????? fare this year? ? #ilovesnooker pic.twitter.com/G37ymQJ9NE
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.
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