Williams rolls back the years
THE scorching sun has arrived early in Sheffield, but Mark Williams is basking in an Indian summer after becoming the oldest world champion since Ray Reardon in 1978.
The 43-year-old withstood a John Higgins onslaught to claim his third title 15 years after his last with a dramatic 18-16 victory in a topsy-turvy final.
Not since 45-year-old Reardon won the last of his six titles has a man in his forties lifted the famous old trophy.
But the Welshman’s renaissance this season has been remarkable.
So gloomy was the outlook 12 months ago that Williams considered retirement after failing to even qualify at The Crucible.
He was dissuaded by wife, Jo, and remodelled his technique with the help of alignment coach Steve Feeney. It has paid off and then some.
Williams ended a six-year barren spell with victories in Northern Ireland and Germany either side of Christmas and the £425,000 winner’s cheque he pocketed here takes his earnings this season to £885,400.
A fifth title continues to elude Higgins, who fell at the final hurdle for the second straight year. The Scot overturned a 10-7 deficit against Judd Trump to win his last title in 2011 and required identical powers of recovery seven years on, with Williams holding that same advantage after winning Sunday’s last three frames.
But Williams is a wilier foe and, just as he did 24 hours earlier, won the first four on Monday to stretch his lead to seven and put one hand on the trophy.
Higgins knows such tasks are not insurmountable, having seen a six-frame lead evaporate against Mark Selby in last year’s final.
He set about climbing his Everest and ended Williams’s seven-frame streak by winning the next three, narrowly missing out on a first Crucible maximum break in the last of those.
The momentum was back with him, but as on Sunday night Williams had the last word to take a five-frame lead into the evening’s finale.
But Higgins’s steel has become the stuff of Sheffield legend.
He came out firing after dinner with his fourth century of the match and pinched another one after Williams broke down just short of the winning line.
The same thing happened in the next as Higgins cleared with 82 after Williams had got in first and he completed a clean sweep before the interval to move within one.
A shell-shocked Williams needed the bell but the barrage continued after the break as Higgins won his eighth frame out of nine to restore parity for the first time since 7-7.
As the clock ticked past 9pm, this two-day marathon was now a best-of-five sprint.
Williams stopped the rot to prevent Higgins taking the lead for the first time and moved one from victory with a century.
The Welshman had the title in his grasp, but missed frame ball — a pink into the bottom right corner. Higgins needed a clearance to stay alive and he did to reduce the arrears.
Many would have crumbled, but Williams took control of the next frame to win one of the most memorable finals in recent history.