Jak Jones is in the Northern Ireland Open final. He was 4–1 down to Mark Williams at the Waterfront Hall last night, and Williams missed an easy yellow that would have made it 5–1. Jones won five of the last six frames to win 6–5, and the decider ended just before midnight UK time. That gives Belfast a final that is a repeat of the 2024 World Championship final: Jones against Kyren Wilson, who won that one 18–14 at the Crucible.
Northern Ireland Open: Jones turns it round against Williams
Jones started with an 87, then barely got a look in. Williams took the next four frames with breaks of 78 and 96 and looked set for another ranking final. Frame six changed the match. Williams missed that yellow, Jones nicked a scrappy frame 58–50, and he followed it with a 59 and a 79–3 frame to level at 4–4.
Williams went back in front by winning the ninth, but Jones made 89, his best break of the night, to force a decider. The last frame was a nervy one for both of them. A fluke handed Jones the advantage on the last red, and Williams, needing to make something happen, went for a double on the brown that rattled in the jaws. Jones potted brown, blue and pink to finish it.
- Frame by frame (Williams first): 24–93 (Jones 87), 72–13, 106–4 (78), 79–8, 97–1 (96), 50–58, 42–70 (Jones 59), 3–79, 64–21, 11–89 (Jones 89), 44–73.
- Jones's season: he won his first ranking title at the Championship League in July and added the British Open in September. TNT Sports says today is his fourth ranking final.
- Wilson's route: he came back from 5–3 down to beat Sam Craigie 6–5 on Saturday afternoon. He won this event in 2024.
- For Williams, 51, it's another deep run as he chases his own record as the oldest ranking-event winner. He won this title in 2017.
The final: best of 17 frames today. The first session starts at 1pm GMT (UK clocks went back overnight) and the match finishes in the evening session. It's live on TNT Sports and discovery+ in the UK.
Mosconi Cup: Hohmann says no to Team USA
The race for the last American automatic places was settled by a few hundred dollars in Manila, and now the man who came out on top has said he won't go. Thorsten Hohmann finished just $80 ahead of Tyler Styer on the Team USA list after reaching the Philippines Open last 16, per Rack 9. On Saturday he turned down his place for Orlando (27–30 November) in a statement on Facebook, published in full by AZBilliards.
"Under tournament pressure, I haven't found that same freedom and consistency," he wrote. "Knowing the game is there, but not being able to rely on it, has been difficult." He also said new business ventures had taken a lot of his time and energy, and that the decision applies to this year only. "Above all, I want Team USA to win."
- Who gets the spot? Team USA hasn't said yet. If it goes to the next names on the list, Styer and Fedor Gorst, who finished $100 behind Styer, would join Shane Van Boening as automatic picks. That is Rack 9's reading of the standings, not an official announcement.
- Team Europe: by Rack 9's count, the automatic places go to Francisco Sánchez Ruiz, Joshua Filler and Aleksa Pecelj. The World Nineball Tour hasn't posted final standings yet.
- Still to come: each captain gets two wildcards. Johan Ruijsink captains the Americans.
Qatar 10-Ball World Cup: Ouschan and Oi fall first time out
The tour went straight from Manila to Doha. The 128-player main stage of the Qatar 10-Ball World Cup ($450,000 prize fund, $100,000 to the winner) started on Saturday at the Ezdan Palace Hotel. Rounds are races to 9 and double elimination until the last 64, so nobody went home on day one, but a couple of big names are already on the losers' side. Results per the Qatar federation's live scoring:
- Albin Ouschan, the No. 8 seed, lost 9–6 to Walter Laikre. He plays Raymund Faraon on the losers' side on Monday.
- Naoyuki Oi lost 9–8 to Sanjin Pehlivanović, and Wiktor Zieliński lost 9–6 to Ruslan Chinakhov.
- Defending champion Jonas Magpantay beat Zein Eddin 9–0. Last year's runner-up Szymon Kural beat Keishin Kamihashi 9–6.
- Also through: Wojciech Szewczyk 9–3 Nadeem Gull, Eklent Kaci 9–2 Tommy Tokoph, Kledio Kaci 9–1 Mark Anthony, Jayson Shaw 9–7 Mohammad Soufi, and Qatar's Ali Al Obaidli 9–6 Lazar Kostic.
- Close Filipino losses: Mark Estiola lost 9–8 to Abdullah Alenezi and Raymund Faraon lost 9–8 to Meshari Bouhaimed.
Q Tour Europe, Oberhausen: last eight under way this morning
The third Q Tour Europe event finishes today. Peter Lines and home favourite Lukas Kleckers meet in a quarter-final after strong wins on Saturday night. The last-16 results:
- Mark Joyce 4–0 Brian Cini, so Cini's run is over.
- Peter Lines 4–0 Filips Kalnins (after a 4–3 escape against Paul Deaville in the last 32).
- Lukas Kleckers 4–1 Daniel Boyes.
- Riley Powell 4–0 Umut Dikme, Luke Pinches 4–2 Jamie Curtis-Barrett.
- Sean Maddocks 4–2 Harvey Chandler, Mark Lloyd 4–1 Brian Ochoiski, Sebastian Milewski 4–2 Amir Nardeia.
Women's Snooker Open, Kuala Lumpur: Ng On Yee perfect in her group
Ng On Yee has won all four of her group matches at Niche Premium Snooker without dropping a frame. That's 8–0 overall, and Charlene Chai, the only other player with three wins, took none of those frames off her either. Some groups are decided in head-to-head games early this evening in Malaysia (this morning in the UK):
- 9:30am GMT: Reanne Evans v Shiu Wing Man (both unbeaten), Mink Nutcharut v Natcharin Sornprasert (both 3–0), Panchaya Channoi v Chu Pui Ying (both 3–0), Baipat Siripaporn v Cheung Yee Ting, and Liu Ziling v Narantuya Bayarsaikhan (both 3–0).
- 10:30am GMT: defending champion Bai Yulu v Katrina Wan.
- India watch: Shruthi Lakshminarayanan beat Cheung Yee Ting 2–0 but lost 2–0 to Siripaporn. Anupama Ramachandran faces group leader Lee Sook Kwan at 9:30am GMT.
LPBA final today: Lim Jeong-sook v Kim Bo-mi
We previewed it yesterday, and now it's on. The NH NongHyup Card LPBA Championship final in Goyang starts at 10pm Korean time, which is 1pm GMT now the UK clocks have gone back. That's the same time as the Belfast final. It's best of seven sets. Lim is going for a sixth LPBA title and Kim for her first, at the fourth attempt. Per Sports World, the men's PBA final at the same event is on Monday night in Korea.
Elsewhere
- Blackball World Championships, Heathrow: we haven't been able to confirm the result of Johan Attard's Men's World Grand Prix final yet. We'll report it when it's published. The team events go on, with the finals from 3pm on 28 October.
- Gandia: the Predator European Seniors Championships head for their final days, with the 9-ball finals on Tuesday 27 October, per the EPBF.
- Carom: there's no three-cushion World Cup this weekend. The UMB circuit is next in Yanggu, Korea, from 2–8 November.
Sunday's viewing (all GMT)
- 8am and 10:30am: Qatar 10-Ball World Cup round one, Qatar Billiard Sports Federation YouTube.
- 9am: Q Tour Oberhausen quarter-finals, with the final around 3pm.
- 9:30am: Women's Snooker Open group deciders, Kuala Lumpur.
- 1pm: Northern Ireland Open final, Wilson v Jak Jones, first session. TNT Sports and discovery+ (UK).
- 1pm: LPBA final, Lim Jeong-sook v Kim Bo-mi.
Feature image: “Jak Jones, Kyren Wilson and Tatiana Woollaston 2025 (1)” by Andrej146, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication).
