Neil Robertson is expecting a really tough challenge when he faces Jak Jones in the second round of the World Snooker Championship, knowing the Welshman can keep you in your seat by spending a long time over shots.
Jones produced one of the shocks of the first round when he beat Ali Carter 10-6 in his first ever match at the Crucible, looking impressively composed in doing do.
It doesn’t get any easier as he now faces Robertson who made two breaks of 146 in his 10-3 walloping of Wu Yize in the first round.
The Australian knows he is in for a test with the 29-year-old, though, because he is a fine player, but also because of the pace at which he plays the game.
Known as one of the slower players on tour, regularly averaging 30 seconds-per-shot or more, Jones can present a test on the patience of his opponents.
‘A different kind of challenge from playing a very attacking player in Wu,’ said Robertson.
‘Jak’s a really, really tough player. He can take the game away from you with the amount of time he takes when he’s at the table.
‘A very tough kind of player because he eats the time away when he’s accumulating 50, 60 breaks, it takes a very long time.’
Jones has said for some time that he is not intending to play at such glacial pace, but it is something of a mental block when he is playing professional matches.
‘I can play some matches at early 20 seconds [average shot time], but I’m probably playing 60 per cent of matches 30 or over, which is not good for me because it’s not my natural game at all, not how I play in practice,’ he explained.
‘It affects me more than anyone, it’s just a confidence and belief thing. If I can start ending up in the early 20s consistently then that will make a big difference to my game.
‘It is a mental block. Belief, trying too hard, over-thinking and then miss a few shots and it gets worse. I’m looking for problems rather than just playing and it’s making the game more difficult.
‘I’m closer to getting there, I’m not there yet, but I’ll get there.’
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