The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Williams holds on to lead in ‘class of 92’ battle at the Crucible
SNOOKER: Higgins shows his battling qualities in final - but Welshman enjoys 10-7 advantage
Mark Williams and John Higgins were braced for a tense climax to the Betfred World Championship final after the Crucible veterans began their battle for the trophy yesterday.
The finalists, born just two months apart in 1975, were contesting the first title match between two 40somethings since this once-nomadic tournament’s 1977 move to Sheffield.
Whoever triumphs tonight will become the oldest champion since 1978, when 45-year-old Ray Reardon triumphed and for 42-year-old Higgins it would mean joining Ronnie O’Sullivan on five titles.
Williams, who turned 43 in March, leads 10-7 and is chasing a third win – 15 years after landing snooker’s greatest prize for asecond time.
Both survived tough semi-finals, with Higgins pulling away to see off Kyren Wilson, while Williams fell over the line in a late-night nerve-jangler against Barry Hawkins.
Against most expectations Williams made a flying start to the final, leading 5-1 at one stage, and was prepared to take the fight to Higgins were it to become a game of wits.
The Scot levelled it at 7-7 after an amazing fightback, making three century breaks of 119, 127 and 117, but Williams won the last three frames, having notched his first ton, a 118, in the 15th frame.
Higgins – who joined the professional ranks in 1992 along with Williams and O’Sullivan – showed his mettle against Wilson and also ousted Judd Trump in a quarter-final final-frame decider
Such resilience could prove important tonight.
“You’d hope so. But it could go Pete Tong, I’m sure,” Higgins said.
“It’s been proved in the quarters and the semi and it’d be great to have that back-up in the final.”
He was looking for a better outcome than last year when he surged 10-4 clear of Mark Selby and had the title in his crosshairs before running out of steam in the best-of-35 marathon.
Williams had crossed the finish line against Hawkins just moments before midnight on Saturday. His head was spinning, his game was in pieces, and Williams predicted Higgins would whitewash him in the final if they had to start immediately.
Indeed Williams finished so late against Hawkins that when he left the Crucible after media interviews, his best option for a late dinner was a nearby kebab shop.
“Doner meat n chips never tasted so nice”, Williams tweeted at 2.14am. Less than 12 hours later, he was walking out for his fourth Crucible final.
“Hopefully if it goes close towards the end I won’t collapse like a cheap tent again,” said Williams.
Last year he failed to qualify for the World Championship and considered retirement.
Wife Joanne urged him to carry on, and a tweak of his technique has given his career an unexpected lift, with Williams taking his season’s earnings beyond £600,000 by reaching the final in Sheffield. The champion will take home £425,000.