Wilson took control during the afternoon session
Wilson scored heavily whenever Jones left a clear opening. He made three century breaks and also won several tactical exchanges by leaving the cue ball in positions that limited Jones’s next shot.
Jones won the sixth frame, but Wilson responded before the interval and ended the afternoon 6-2 ahead. That margin meant he needed only three more snooker frames in the evening session.
A comeback against Craigie opened the route to the final
Wilson had reached the title match through a difficult semi-final against Sam Craigie. He trailed 5-3 but won three consecutive frames to complete a 6-5 victory.
That recovery carried into the final, where he did not allow Jones the same opportunity. Wilson won the first three evening frames and completed the 9-2 result without needing the later part of the session.
The trophy ended a 19-month ranking-title wait
The Belfast win was Wilson’s first ranking title since the 2025 Players Championship, a gap of 19 months between ranking victories. It was also his 11th victory in a ranking tournament.
The result gave Wilson the Alex Higgins Trophy for the second time in three years and moved him to eighth in the world rankings. The tournament listed a GBP 100,000 prize for the champion. Jones had produced a strong week to reach the final, but Wilson’s scoring and careful positional play prevented him from building a sustained response. The evening session lasted only a little over an hour because Wilson won the three frames he needed immediately. That continuity separated the final from the semi-final, where he had first needed to recover from two frames behind.