Jak Jones: Darren Morgan spotted World Championship semi-finalist

Jak Jones did not find a career in snooker. Snooker found him.

Specifically, a chance encounter with Darren Morgan, himself a semi-finalist at the Crucible 30-years ago, changed the trajectory of Jones’ life.

Picking up a cue for the first time on a family holiday in Corfu, Jones was spotted by Morgan who was on his honeymoon.

Morgan says he could tell from first sight that Jones was a natural.

“I went to the bar to order some drinks and there was an American pool table in there and I saw this little kid potting balls for fun,” he said.

“His mother saw and recognised me, and I said what a great player he is, she replied to me and said that he had never picked a cue up in his life until this week.”

When Morgan, from Newport, enquired further about Jones he discovered he was from just up the A4042 in Cwmbran, with Morgan being the person to suggest he give snooker a try.

Morgan, 56, who lost to Jimmy White in the 1994 World Championship semi-final, says he recommended Reds, a local club in Cwmbran – the place Jones now calls his snooker home – but it was in his own club in Cross Keys where Jones learned the game.

“Around about three months after Corfu I was in my club on a Saturday morning when the door opened, Jack, his mother and his father walked in,” Morgan recalls. “He played at my club, and I looked after him for about three or four years.

“He’s a lovely lad and will give 100% in any tournament or championship he plays in. It’s what you’ve got to do and he’s finally starting to see the rewards.”