Third world title for Williams

LONDON: Welshman Mark Williams beat Scotland’s John Higgins 1816 in a dramatic final yesterday to win his third world snooker title at the age of 43 and become the tournament’s oldest winner for 40 years.

Higgins (42) fought back from 1510 down to level at 1515 but Williams won the next two frames and, although he missed a simple pink to clinch the match 1815, he kept his nerve to close out victory 15 years after he won his second world crown.

‘‘You have to expect a comeback from John Higgins. When you are 50 to 60 in front he is the best at coming back,’’ Williams said at the presentation ceremony.

‘‘I knew at the end if I didn’t get enough in front he would clear up again but I’m over the moon. Last year I was seriously thinking of giving up, but my game is in pretty good shape now.’’

And after saying earlier in the tournament that he would speak to the media naked if he won the title, Williams walked into his news conference undressed apart from a towel.

Higgins, a fourtime world champion, finished runnerup for the second year in a row.

‘‘It was unbelievable to play in front of this crowd,’’ he said. ‘‘The last frame was just a joke there for him to play that well under that pressure. He is a great champion.’’

Welshman Ray Reardon won his sixth world title in 1978 at the age of 45 to become the oldest winner of the event. — Reuters

PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES Plenty of front . . . Mark Williams, of Wales, talks to the media wearing only a towel after beating Scotland’s John Higgins 1816 in the final of the world snooker championship in Sheffield yesterday.