“Both of them are on the floor,” Davis said. “You count to 10 and who can get up before the 10. They’ve been really, really nervous. You can feel for both of them but somebody has to make the last mistake.”

“The pair of them are running on fumes,” added Parrott. “You can’t think straight and your concentration levels are gone.”

If Jones can make an unlikely comeback he would become the first qualifier since Shaun Murphy in 2005 to win the title, picking up a cool £500,000 in the process, as runner-up pockets £200,000.