Jak Jones v Stuart Bingham: Prediction, Tips, Odds and Start Time

Despite both having to come through qualifying to seal their place at the Crucible, Jak Jones and Stuart Bingham have made it all the way to the semi-final.

In fact, three of the four semi-finalists are qualifiers - the only exception being 12th seed Kyren Wilson - and both Jones and Bingham come into this on the back of one of their biggest wins ever.

While Jones, featuring in only his second ever appearance at the Crucible, recorded a 13-9 win over Judd Trump, Bingham overcame seven-time champion and tournament favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan in a 13-10 thriller.

This is uncharted territory for Jones but Bingham has been here and done it before, having been crowned world champion in 2015 following his 18–15 victory over Shaun Murphy.

Ball-Run will be hoping to put that experience to good use and he is 1/2 to get the better of Jones, who is 13/8 to reach his first ever ranking event final.

Jak Jones v Stuart Bingham betting tips and predictions

Over 29.5 frames - 5/6

Many will be expecting former world champion Bingham to call upon his past experiences and get the better of Jones, a player competing at the one-table set-up for the first time in his career.

In fact, Jones is featuring in his first ever ranking event semi-final and that comes with a whole different pressure to what he would have ever felt before.

However, the Welshman has looked so composed throughout the tournament and been so solid in every department that it is hard to envisage him being overawed by the occasion.

Jones didn’t need to be at his best to overcome opening opponent Zhang Anda while second-round rival Si Jiahui missed plenty of pressure balls and made it easy for him.

But you can’t take a 13-9 quarter-final victory over Trump, one of the form players of the season, away from him and that was by some way his strongest performance of the tournament.

The Welshman excelled in the safety exchanges and then he produced breaks of 117, 106, 94, 87 and 74, showing himself to have the perfect temperament for the Crucible.

So while Bingham may be able to settle the better, it is hard to see Jones being outclassed and going over 29.5 frames - meaning 17-13 or better either way - would be the approach to take.

Ball-Run has looked right back to his best in Sheffield, putting a poor campaign behind him to reach a third World Championship semi-final.

Bingham, who was crowned champion in 2015 and was then beaten 17-15 in the final four by Mark Selby in 2021, has recorded wins over Gary Wilson, Jack Lisowski and O’Sullivan.

The latter two matches went over the total frames and he scored especially well in a high-quality quarter-final with the Rocket, registering breaks of 125, 108, 104 and 92.

Stuart Bingham to have the highest break - 4/7

Bingham had three centuries in his giant-killing of O’Sullivan and across his five matches, which includes two qualifiers, he has compiled six tonnes.

In that same timeframe, Jones has had only three centuries and he failed to register any in his earlier round wins over Anda and Si.

The Welshman isn’t the most natural of scorers and tends to win his frames through being calm and composed, regularly producing counter clearances to pinch frames from behind.

That makes Bingham look decent value to post the highest break at 4/7, especially given he is likely to come out on top and may also settle to the occasion better.

Read more snooker betting tips and predictions on site.

Jak Jones v Stuart Bingham odds

Jak Jones - 13/8
Stuart Bingham - 1/2

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Jak Jones v Stuart Bingham start time

This is a four-session semi-final played over a best-of-33-frame format and it gets underway at 19:00 on Thursday 2nd May.

The second session takes place at 14:30 on Friday 3rd May and the final two sessions are both scheduled for Saturday 4th May, with action coming from 10:00 and concluding at 19:00.

This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.