Jak Jones criticizes World Snooker Tour tiered draw formats
British Open champion Jak Jones criticized the World Snooker Tour’s tiered draw formats as a disgrace and shocking during an interview in September 2026. Speaking at The Centaur in Cheltenham, the Welsh professional argued that skipping rounds for top-ranked players creates two separate tours, reigniting debates over meritocracy versus protection for elite seeds in professional snooker.
The Structural Divide in the World Snooker Tour Schedule
Professional snooker features a stark division between flat draw events and tiered tournaments. Under a flat draw system, popularized during Barry Hearn’s administration to foster meritocracy, all 128 players begin in the opening round and must win the same number of matches to claim the title. However, recent years have seen a return to tiered draws for major competitions such as the UK Championship, four Home Nations Series events, the German Masters, and select Chinese ranking events. In these structures, the top 16 players enter the main venue at a later stage, bypassing the preliminary qualifying rounds entirely.
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This scheduling split forces lower-ranked professionals through multiple preliminary hurdles just to catch up in ranking points. For instance, a lower-ranked player may need to win five matches to earn the same ranking points that a top 16 player secures after winning just a single match in the main venue. While top seeds must win their opening match for their prize money to count toward their ranking, the tiered entry points have drawn sharp criticism from competitors climbing the lower rungs of the professional circuit.
Jak Jones’ Critique of Tiered Events
Reflecting on a career rollercoaster that includes losing all 16 matches during the 2013/14 season, subsequent relegation, a deep run to the 2024 World Snooker Championship, and entering the current campaign as the world number 32, Jak Jones offered a blunt assessment of the scheduling format. Speaking exclusively with Totally Snookered at The Centaur in Cheltenham during his British Open run, Jones detailed his opposition to the system.
“I’m probably not the right one to ask. I think it’s shocking. Tiered system is like; I personally think it’s a disgrace,” Jones stated. Describing the competitive disparity, he added, “How you have players starting in four rounds ahead of other players, starting tournaments in the last 32, it’s like, it is two different tours. That’s what it is. I’d be saying that if I was in the top 16.”
Arguments Surrounding Draw Formats in Professional Snooker
The debate over tournament structures divides players, administrators, and fans alike. Critics of flat draws argue that forcing rookies to face top-ranked opponents in the very first round stunts their development as they adjust to the top tier. In contrast, tiered systems ensure that lower-ranked players initially compete against opponents closer to their own ranking level.
Despite the scheduling controversies, several prominent events maintain a flat draw. The British Open won by Jones requires all 128 players to enter from the first round, although the top 16 hold their initial matches over to the main venue. Similarly, the International Championship uses a flat draw, requiring star names to contest qualifiers in Leicester to book a spot in the televised stages in Nanjing, China.
Financial Realities and Amateur Development Costs
During his British Open campaign, Jones highlighted the expensive costs required for young people to play snooker competitively as both amateurs and professionals.
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