MAGIC MARK STRIKES GOLD
Williams, 43, claims his third crown in thriller
MARK WILLIAMS claimed a stunning third world title after winning the ‘golden oldie’ Crucible final.
The Welshman, 43, became the oldest Betfred World Championship winner since compatriot Ray Reardon in 1978 with a 18-16 victory over John Higgins.
Williams almost quit the sport last summer after a decade of poor form, and failing even to qualify for the blue riband tournament.
But wife Jo persuaded him to give snooker one more go, with the assistance of coach Steve Feeney and his sighting techniques.
And a record 15 years after his previous success in 2003 the left-hander once again got his hands on the famous silver trophy – and pocketed a huge £425,000 cheque.
And it capped a sensational campaign for Williams, who also won three other titles including events in Belfast and Berlin.
The showpiece between two of the ‘Class of 1992’ had captured the imagination, with the third of the Holy Trinity that turned pro’ 26 years ago – Ronnie O’Sullivan – watching on.
But defeat was a huge blow for Scot Higgins, 42, who lost in the final for the second year in a row after blowing a 10-4 lead against Mark Selby 12 months ago.
He had been hoping to win a fifth world title a record 20 years after his first – and also equal the Crucible trophy tally of O’Sullivan.
The famously laidback Williams started the first day of the final eating a kebab at 2.30am after his latenight Saturday semifinal finish. This was the oldest Crucible final in history, the combined age of the pair coming to 85 – two more than the Reardon v Perrie Mans final (83) in 1978.
The players resumed yesterday with Williams 10-7 up and most expecting an immediate Higgins fightback. Instead, the Welsh wizard forged further clear, taking his winning run of frames to seven and establishing a 14-7 lead helped by breaks of 61, 56, 69, 56 and 52.
But Higgins (below) can never be written off. And a break of 67, a brilliant clearance of 72 to steal another frame, and a failed 147 attempt falling down on 80 brought him back to 14-10 adrift.
But the 25th frame, the last before the evening climax, saw Williams stop the rot and move five clear.
As the pair emerged to a standing ovation Higgins knew he had to come out firing – and he ruthlessly took advantage of some Williams errors.
A missed black allowed him to make a break of 131, and though Williams was well ahead in both of the next two Higgins pounced to win them both before closing to 15-14 at the mid-session interval.
And Higgins then drew level for the first time since 7-7 at 15-15. But Williams gathered himself superbly to kick on past the winning line.