"Snooker Star Opens Up About Medical Condition That Made Him Want to 'Rip Off His Shirt' During Embarrassing Crucible Performance"

JAK JONES has revealed he came close to quitting his World Championship opener because of having breathing problems caused by asthma.

The Welshman, 32, suffered a at the hands of Mark Selby at the Crucible.

Jak Jones had breathing issues during his World Championship clash with Mark Selby Credit: Getty The Welshman has asthma Credit: Getty

in the final round of qualifying to book his place in the historic tournament.

But the Silent Assassin blamed his woeful performance against Selby on a medical condition.

told BBC Sport: “I practised quite well and felt quite good coming here [to the Crucible].

“But I felt absolutely shocking this morning, probably one of the worst I’ve felt in a match.

“When you can’t breathe, you can’t be composed and I feel pressure in my head and get headaches.

“It turns into a panic attack because I can’t breathe and I want to just rip my shirt off.

“I probably would’ve lost by the same scoreline, but it just makes it harder with my asthma if you can’t breathe properly.”

Jones refuses to wear a bow tie when competing at the because of his issues with asthma.

And the admitted he had to overcome problems during his qualifying win over Brecel.

He added: “I can end up feeling absolutely terrible, I get tremors and stuff like that.

Jones considered cutting his first round showdown short Credit: Getty Selby wrapped up a comfortable win Credit: AFP

“If I take my medication it can make it worse [when playing] as it can give me the shakes.

“It happened in my last match [his qualifier] against but I got through it.”

Jones conceded he considered cutting his first round showdown short when he quickly realised he was going to get thrashed.

He revealed: “I missed a few easy balls and it turned into a bit of a nightmare.

“I wasn’t nervous or anything coming here, but I missed a few balls and in this venue it can get on top of you.

“It turned into a bit of an embarrassing performance. I just wanted to walk out of here.

“Playing someone like Mark, a specialist, one of the best players ever, you need to settle down early and if you don’t, what happened happens.

“My life away from the game has been a bit of a mess at times, my practice has been pretty bad in the last five or six years and when I got to the world final it was a bit of a miracle, I’ve been kind of winging it.”