The British Open final takes place in Cheltenham on Sunday as Mark Selby looks to continue his brilliant start to the season by overcoming Jak Jones.
Both players had to survive endurance tests in their semi-final successes. Selby outlasted Liam Highfield for a 6-3 win in a contest which had an average frame time of 32 minutes, including one 76-minute battle that the Jester won.
Later, Jones upstaged Judd Trump in a 6-3 win after the Ace in the Pack made just two half-centuries.
Mark Selby v Jak Jones Tips Summary
Best Bet – Mark Selby -2.5 Frames @ 8/11
Alternative Bet – Match Centuries Under 2.5 @ 5/4
Mark Selby v Jak Jones Prediction
Best Bet: Mark Selby -2.5 Frames @ 8/11
The head-to-head record greatly favours Selby, with seven wins to Jones' one. Many of those meetings were Championship League affairs in the confines of a small room with no supporters looking on.
Most recently, Selby thrashed Jones 10-2 in the first round of the World Championship in April. The four-time world champion might rightly believe he could have added a fifth title in Sheffield but for a second-round 13-11 defeat to Wu Yize, the eventual winner.
Selby has enjoyed a stellar start to the new season. He lost a deciding frame to Zhou Yuelong in Shanghai before winning the China Open as he beat former world champions Kyren Wilson, Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham.
Only Ronnie O'Sullivan stopped him in Wuhan, before the Rocket misfired in the last four himself.
Selby has survived some battles in Cheltenham, but will be fresher as Jack Lisowski offered little resistance in Friday's quarter-final.
Jones went to the wire with Aaron Hill in the last-eight and then battled hard to get by an out-of-sorts Trump in the semis.
It was one-sided when these players met in Sheffield in the spring and while Jones may get closer now, Selby was too gritty for Noppon Saengkham in a 10-6 China Open final last month and a similar outcome here is probable.
Alternative Bet: Match Centuries Under 2.5 @ 5/4
That China Open final featured just a lone century break – a 138 from Selby in frame three – and it was anything but high-scoring in the last four in Cheltenham for either of these players.
Selby made 85 in the second frame against Highfield but made just one more half-century, a 53 in the penultimate frame.
Jones knocked in 95 to go 2-0 in front against Trump on Saturday night and his scoring prowess thereafter maxed out with breaks of 68, 59 and 52.
Selby's wins over Peifan Lei, Jackson Page, Iulian Boiko, Lisowski and Highfield have brought just one century break.
Jones made two against Anthony McGill in the last-64 but has registered only two more in four matches since. Scoring fireworks are far from guaranteed in the Cheltenham decider.
Mark Selby v Jak Jones H2H Record & Stats
Mark Selby Wins | 7 |
Jak Jones Wins | 1 |
Mark Selby is playing his 40th ranking event final, chasing a 27th title – enough to take him to sixth in the all-time list
Victory would take Selby to second in the world rankings, up from fourth
Jones won the Championship League earlier this season, his first ranking title, and is now set to contest his third ever ranking decider – after having lost the 2024 World Championship decider in Sheffield against Kyren Wilson
Selby has won seven of the previous eight meetings with Jones, most recently a 10-2 first round win at the Crucible in April this year
Previously, their only meeting in a major ranking event was a 5-2 Selby success at the 2020 European Masters. All other meetings were in Championship League, ProTour or the Shoot Out
Selby and Jones had one break north of 70 each in their semi-final wins over Liam Highfield and Judd Trump
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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.
