Mark Williams ended an eight-year wait to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan, coming back from a three-game deficit to win the Masters quarter-final title 6-5.
Williams’ hopes of beating the seven-time Masters champion and world number one looked remote when O’Sullivan took a 3-0 lead over Alexandra Palace on Thursday.
But the Welshman – who fought his way back into contention with the tournament’s best chance of 143 – won three frames in a row to lead his fellow veteran 5-4.
O’Sullivan responded by taking the match to a decider, but Williams kept his cool with another century to score a semi-final against Jack Lisowski who beat Hossein Vafaei 6–4 later in the day.
“For the first three frames I didn’t have a chance,” Williams told the BBC after ending a six-match losing streak to O’Sullivan dating back to the 2014 International in China.
“He tied me in knots, and he was taking plentiful breaks.
“But I felt like the crowd was starting to come towards me towards the end and most of them wanted me to win, which was unbelievable.”
Asked if it was his most satisfying victory in recent seasons, the 47-year-old three-times world champion said: “Yes, you’re playing the best player ever… UK for 20 years.
“This is over now. If I don’t beat him for another 20 years, I won’t care.”
Second seed O’Sullivan dominated early with a break of 115 and doubled his lead in a second frame of 36 minutes.
Williams was penalized for missing the risky red with the rest in frame three when O’Sullivan amassed a decisive break of 79, but the race began to turn before the break.
O’Sullivan, between the balls and forward in frame four, elected to wait to trouble a group of reds and missed completely.
Williams capitalized on his 55 frames win, aided by a superb underarm shot, and followed it up by scoring 83 frames per second.
O’Sullivan’s safe play helped him take a 4-2 lead, but Williams then made an impressive 143 clearance – his best for the Masters.
Another 90 leveled the score, and when O’Sullivan missed a red at the halfway point after electing not to play it safe, Williams pared a 59 into the lead for the first time.
O’Sullivan won a tense tenth frame, making 77 after a long exchange for a safety, but Williams was undeniable and took advantage of another mistake by his opponent to claim the 102nd victory.
Lisowski also came from behind to defeat Vafaei in a high quality match.
The world No. 12 opened in style, with streaks of 96 and 76 putting him up 2-0, but Vafaei fought back to win the next three, tying Williams’ tournament record of 143 points in the process.
Lisowski tied after a break of 67, but the next three frames were closely contested. Lisowski ended up leading 5-4 and closed out the win with a par 74.
He said, “It’s like a dream.” “Three or four years ago I couldn’t win a match here, but now to be in the semi-finals is unbelievable.”
Mark Williams ended an eight-year wait to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan, coming back from a three-game deficit to win the Masters quarter-final title 6-5.
Williams’ hopes of beating the seven-time Masters champion and world number one looked remote when O’Sullivan took a 3-0 lead over Alexandra Palace on Thursday.
But the Welshman – who fought his way back into contention with the tournament’s best chance of 143 – won three frames in a row to lead his fellow veteran 5-4.
O’Sullivan responded by taking the match to a decider, but Williams kept his cool with another century to score a semi-final against Jack Lisowski who beat Hossein Vafaei 6–4 later in the day.
“For the first three frames I didn’t have a chance,” Williams told the BBC after ending a six-match losing streak to O’Sullivan dating back to the 2014 International in China.
“He tied me in knots, and he was taking plentiful breaks.
“But I felt like the crowd was starting to come towards me towards the end and most of them wanted me to win, which was unbelievable.”
Asked if it was his most satisfying victory in recent seasons, the 47-year-old three-times world champion said: “Yes, you’re playing the best player ever… UK for 20 years.
“This is over now. If I don’t beat him for another 20 years, I won’t care.”
Second seed O’Sullivan dominated early with a break of 115 and doubled his lead in a second frame of 36 minutes.
Williams was penalized for missing the precarious red with the remainder in frame three when O’Sullivan made a decisive break of 79, but the race began to turn before the break.
O’Sullivan, between the balls and ahead in frame four, chose to wait until he had upset a red packet and miss it entirely.
Williams capitalized on his 55 frames win, aided by a superb underarm shot, and followed it up by scoring 83 frames per second.
O’Sullivan’s safe play helped him take a 4-2 lead, but Williams then made an impressive 143 clearance – his best for the Masters.
Another 90 leveled the score, and when O’Sullivan missed a red at the halfway point after electing not to play it safe, Williams pared a 59 into the lead for the first time.
O’Sullivan won a tense tenth frame, making 77 after a long exchange for a safety, but Williams was undeniable and took advantage of another mistake by his opponent to claim the 102nd win.
Lisowski also came from behind to defeat Vafaei in a high quality match.
The world No. 12 opened in style, with streaks of 96 and 76 putting him up 2-0, but Vafaei fought back to win the next three, tying Williams’ tournament record of 143 points in the process.
Lisowski tied after a break of 67, but the next three frames were closely contested. Lisowski ended up leading 5-4 and closed out the win with a par 74.
He said, “It’s like a dream.” “Three or four years ago I couldn’t win a match here, but now to be in the semi-finals is unbelievable.”
