Jamie Jones ‘at a crossroads in life’ as he balances snooker and new career

Jamie Jones has a lot on his plate at World Championship qualifying and is focussed on the snooker table after getting used to plates and tables of a very different kind.

The world number 60 has been to the Crucible six times, making a quarter-final on debut back in 2012 and memorably beating Neil Robertson in qualifying to make the main stages last year.

He is scrapping to return to the iconic theatre again having refocussed his efforts in practice after something of a distraction thanks to a new business interest.

Along with a friend, the 37-year-old has taken over the 1021 bar and bistro in his hometown, Neath, and balancing potting balls and pulling pints was a struggle at first.

‘I’m at a bit of a crossroads in my life, really,’ Jones told Metro. ‘Me and my friend have opened a bar and bistro in my local town so I’m really happy off the table doing this other work.

‘It got in the way before Christmas when I wasn’t practicing enough and the game found me out, but after Christmas I’ve tried really hard. You’ve got to put the hours in.

‘I’m just trying my best to enjoy the process out there. I’m trying to enjoy and embrace the pressure because I’m sure I’ll miss it one day when I’m not playing. It is tough, but I’ll miss it one day.’

His new venture has a sporting heritage, as Jones explains: ‘It was a Welsh international rugby player, Paul James, before me. He’s moved into coaching with rugby so didn’t have time to do it.

‘It’s really cool actually because I’m doing things that I never thought I’d be doing. People asking me how many barrels of beer we want. I don’t know! I don’t know what I’m doing! But my mate and his wife had a pub in the past, so they just tell me what to do and I do it.

‘I’ve played snooker since I was a kid and it’s all I’ve ever known but it’s not lost on me how hard it is. There’s certain pressures in the bar but it’s not as hard as this, it’s not as hard as trying to get to 10 in the Worlds. I can’t twitch up on a crisp order!

‘It’s going alright. It’s about finding a balance between practice and helping out there, which I want to do.’

The Welshman has proved a threat in the World Championship before, twice beating Shaun Murphy at the Crucible and downing Stephen Maguire on the sport’s biggest stage as well.

He still has two qualifiers to win to return again, but feels the format suits him.

Jones is also in a much better headspace now than he was earlier in the season when anxiety struggles were getting the better of him, something that he does not expect to be an issue in Sheffield.

‘Weirdly I don’t feel as much pressure in this tournament as others. I don’t know why, it’s an odd thing to say really,’ he said.

‘Naturally I want to win and it gets nervy, but I tend to be able to play my best snooker over these longer matches.

‘People tend to go into their shells but I tend to go the other way. Try and do the opposite to what everyone else is doing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.

‘You know at the start of the day you’ve got an all-day grueller. That’s an easy mindset for me. I’m here all day, I’m going to do good things and bad things so I’m going to be kind to myself and give myself a chance.’

Jones takes on China’s Xu Si over two sessions at 2.30pm on Sunday 13 and Monday 14 April in the third round of World Championship qualifying.