Kyren Wilson stormed to a 7-1 lead over Jak Jones after the first session of the Cazoo World Championship final.
The Warrior is competing in his second Crucible final, having been runner-up to Ronnie O’Sullivan in 2020. On that occasion he fell 8-2 down during an eventual 18-8 defeat. This time around Wilson himself has seized the early initative.
Jones has enjoyed a fairytale run to the title match. He began the event as a 200-1 outsider, but has upset the odds to defeat the likes of Judd Trump and Stuart Bingham to make the final. A big turnaround will now be required if he is to land another shock win over Wilson.
The opening frame saw Wilson drill in a long red and make a break of 129 to lay down an early marker and lead 1-0. Both players had opportunities in each of the next two frames, but it was Jones who made the critical mistakes and he was ruthlessly punished as Wilson moved 3-0 up.
The Kettering cueman then crafted runs of 66, 62, 125 and 90 to win a further four on the bounce and lead 7-0. It’s the first time anyone has led by that scoreline in a world final since John Parrott over Jimmy White in 1991.
Things could have got worse for Welshman Jones, but Wilson missed a mid-range red in the final frame of the session. He made 65 and took the frame to get himself on the board at 7-1.
They return for the second of four sessions this evening from 7pm.