Wilson beats Jones to secure NI Open title

Kyren Wilson won the Northern Ireland Open for the second time in three years with a clinical 9-2 victory over Jak Jones at the Waterfront Hall.

Wilson, 34, carried his impressive tournament form into the final and led 6-2 after the afternoon session having been helped by three century breaks.

The Englishman then won the opening three frames of the evening session to complete the comfortable victory in what was a repeat of the 2024 World Championship final, also won by Wilson.

The victory is the world number nine's 11th ranking title and his first since the Players Championship in 2025.

Wilson, who beat Judd Trump in the 2024 decider, made an emphatic start to the final in Belfast with a 101 break in the first frame to lay down an early marker.

Jones claimed the second, but Wilson won the next three frames with the help of breaks of 60 and 135.

The Welshman responded in style and registered a run of 130 in the sixth frame to at least keep himself in contention.

However, Wilson regained his control of the match and won the final two frames of the session to move to within three of victory.

The former world champion continued to dominate in the evening session and kept his cool to win the opening three frames and lift the Alex Higgins trophy.