Williams into Champion of Champions semis after Wilson epic

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Williams beat Wilson to book his place in the last four (Photo credit: Taka G Wu/Matchroom Multi Sport)

Mark Williams booked his place in the Champion of Champions semi-finals following an entertaining 6-5 victory over Kyren Wilson on Tuesday.

The three-time World champion edged out the reigning Crucible king in a thrilling Group Three final encounter that saw four centuries and a further three breaks over 70 at the Toughsheet Community Stadium in Bolton.

Williams, who had never previously won a match at this event in three previous appearances, broke his duck with a 4-1 victory over reigning World Women’s snooker champion Bai Yulu earlier in the day.

Then, despite Wilson fighting back from 5-3 down to force a decider, the Welshman held his nerve to record a first win over the Warrior in eight attempts.

“I’ve been hitting [the ball] quite well,” he told ITV Sport. “I can’t really hit it much better with the practise I’m doing, it hasn’t come out so much on the match table, but a bit of it came out there.

“I played well there. He’s one of the best players. To Judd Trump, I lost 10-9 on the black in Saudi Arabia. I’m still pushing these top players close; I don’t know how, but I am. Let’s see how long it can continue.”

𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗵𝗲’𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁. 💪 #ChampOfChamps pic.twitter.com/TLNMKgUlMt

— Live Snooker (@Livesnooker) November 12, 2024

Williams’ 109 cancelled out Wilson’s 83 in the opening frame. He then had a chance to steal the third frame from 63-37 behind, but a missed yellow enabled the Warrior to regain the lead at 2-1.

The Welshman won the next two frames – aided by a top run of 72 – to edge his nose ahead for the first time, though Wilson responded with 105 to level once more.

However, Williams hit straight back with a magnificent 140 total clearance and, in frame eight, countered with 71 to make it 5-3 after Wilson had broken down on 48 when missing a pink to the right centre.

Though he entered the tournament having spent the previous weekend feeling unwell, the Warrior produced breaks of 132, 115 and 79 on the way to a commanding 4-1 win over Luca Brecel earlier in the day.

And the 2018 Champion of Champions runner-up, who has also reached a further two semi-finals in his six previous appearances, demonstrated his battling qualities with a timely break of 123 keeping his hopes alive.

Williams had the opportunity to kill off the contest after building a 56-9 lead in the 10th frame, but was unable to put it to bed and, after winning the safety battle, Wilson produced a nerveless 58 clearance to pinch it on the pink.

However, the three-time World champion was not to be denied. An early contribution of 27 preceded his opponent missing a tricky black, which allowed him to get over the line with a further run of 43.

𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿 ✅ #ChampOfChamps pic.twitter.com/4rHEjjlFro

— Live Snooker (@Livesnooker) November 12, 2024

“I thought [Kyren] was going to come back,” Williams added. “He made a good break to go 5-4, and [in the next frame] I was cursed. I’ve gone into the pack, they’ve split lovely and I’m on nothing.

“He’s then gone for a long red, butchered it and somehow left two reds [safe]. I just thought: ‘I’m not going to win’.

“But, it was a good break in the last frame. I’d have been a little bit sick [if I’d lost the match].”

Wilson added: “I didn’t really feel like I played that well. I was just hanging on. I felt like Mark was the better player today.

“I just made far too many unforced errors, missed too many easy balls. I’m proud that I managed to make a game of it, considering how I’ve felt.

“Every credit to Mark, he’s shown what a great champion he is. This afternoon’s game [against Bai], he wasn’t really firing on all cylinders, but he’s so laidback that he can just put it behind him and move on.”

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