Adam Williams presents his prediction for the World Snooker Championship match.
Last year’s World Championship finalist, Jak Jones, will play his opening match against Zhao Xintong.
Jak Jones
Jak Jones made his debut on the main tour in 2010, but it took him over a decade to achieve significant results. Jones made his Crucible debut in 2023, immediately reaching the quarter-finals. Jones defeated Ali Carter and Neil Robertson before losing to Mark Allen in the quarter-finals. Last year, Jak overcame Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham to reach the final, eventually losing 18-14 to Kyren Wilson. Jones has never achieved comparable success in any other tournament, as he has at the World Championship. Jones’ most notable achievements this season have been reaching the quarter-finals of the British Open and the Champion of Champions, but it remains a possibility that Jak will showcase his best form at the main tournament of the year.
Zhao Xintong
The 28-year-old “Cyclone” returns to the tour following a 20-month ban for his involvement in match-fixing. The 2021 UK Championship winner secured a place on the main tour for the next two seasons by winning four Q-Tour Events this season. As an amateur, Xintong contested four UK Championship qualifiers, reaching the final stage, where he suffered a first-round defeat to Shaun Murphy in a deciding frame 6-5. In the World Championship qualifiers, Zhao defeated Cheung Ka Wai 10-4, Long Zehuang 10-8, Lyu Haotian 10-4, and Elliot Slessor 10-8. Throughout these matches, Zhao played his usual flawless game and made a lot of big breaks.
Jak Jones vs Zhao Xintong Prediction
This encounter promises to be a clash of contrasting playing philosophies. On the one hand, we have the attack-minded and unstoppable Zhao Xintong, capable of conjuring attacking opportunities from seemingly nowhere and making century breaks. On the other, we have Jak Jones, who prefers to drag his opponents into long exchanges and create challenging table positions to prevent his opponent from getting free. Predicting the outcome of this match is challenging; however, we anticipate that Xintong will make more centuries and win this match.
