CWMBRAN’S Jak Jones labelled the ManBetX Welsh Open “a nightmare” after he was dumped out at the third-round stage by Englishman Joe O’Connor.

Jones’ 4-1 defeat ended hopes of a Welsh winner at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena, with Duane Jones also crashing out 4-0 against Robbie Williams this morning.

World champion Mark Williams suffered a surprise exit in round two last night as he was edged out 4-2 by China's Zhang Anda.

And, after his defeat, Jak Jones admitted that he and his fellow Welshmen were struggling to cope with the weight of expectation at their home tournament.

“It’s a nightmare, to be honest,” said the 25-year-old.

“It’s one of the nicest tournaments to play in, but also one of the worst – because there’s so much expectation.

“With the other tournaments you just go away on your own and you’ve not got to worry about anyone else.

“But here your friends and family are all here and they think ‘you should beat him, no problem’ – they don’t really understand.

“So it is a nightmare in that sense. That’s obviously why a lot of the Welsh players struggle here.

“It’s difficult. Hopefully the more you do it, the better you get at dealing with it.

“But the experienced guys struggle too so it’s obviously difficult.”

Jones beat fellow Welshman Matthew Stevens in round one and came from behind on three occasions before getting the better of veteran Peter Lines to secure his place in the third round for the first time.

But, despite levelling the match at 1-1, he was eventually brushed aside by world number 103 O’Connor.

“It was a terrible game from beginning to end, to be honest,” said Jones, who is ranked 87th.

“I just didn’t get going throughout the whole match and I missed too many important balls at important times.

“You can’t really do that against anyone.

“It’s so frustrating because I felt, if I’d played half decent, I would have been close.

“But he’s obviously playing well. He beat [world number seven] Kyren Wilson, which gave him lots of confidence, and he’s a good player.”

Jones hoped to put the disappointment behind him quickly as he aims to qualify for April’s World Championships for the first time.

“That would obviously be really big for me if I could qualify,” he added.

“I almost did a few years ago when I lost to Ryan [Day] and it would be good.

“I just hope to keep winning matches and go further in tournaments. I just want to try to keep improving.”

Cwm cueman Williams was the last home winner of the Welsh Open back in 1999.

After his defeat to Zhang Anda, the world number two said: “I was rubbish. He was by far the better player. He cues and scores well so I’m surprised he’s not higher up the rankings.”