Mark Williams finally got the better of Kyren Wilson at the Champion of Champions on Tuesday night, edging out the world champion 6-5 in a match labelled a classic.
Wilson held a remarkable record of 7-0 over the Welsh legend in matches longer than best-of-five, with Williams clearly struggling against the Englishman in big events.
After beating the three-time world champion at the Northern Ireland Open last month, Wilson told Eurosport: ‘It’s one of my better records and obvisouly it’s very flattering because he’s an all-time great.
‘I don’t now what it is, maybe his style just suits the way I play. He’s so relaxed out there I think he makes me feel relaxed. I just always enjoy playing Mark.’
The 49-year-old got a win on the board in style in Bolton, though, making breaks of 140, 109, 72, 71 and 56 in a brilliant contest, which also saw Wilson make two centuries (123 and 105).
Williams, who does not have his feathers ruffled by very much, said he was unfazed by the one-sided head-to-head with the Warrior, remembering a record against former pro Mike Dunn which bothered him more.
‘I think Mike Dunn was like 5-0 against me, he kept texting me, that’s worse! He used to give me some stick,’ Williams told ITV. ‘But no, I don’t think about things like that, it makes no difference.’
The three-time world champion now faces the winner of Wednesday’s group which features Judd Trump, Ding Junhui, Ali Carter and Neil Robertson and he is feeling very good about his game.
‘I’ve been hitting it quite well, I can’t really hit it much better in the practice I’m doing,’ he said. ‘It hasn’t come out so much on the match table, but a bit of it came out there. That’s how I’ve been hitting the ball for a little bit now.
‘I played well there and beat him 6-5, he’s one of the best players. Judd Trump I’ve lost 10-9 on the black in Saudi for a major tournament, so I’m still pushing these top players, I don’t know how, but I am. It can’t keep going can it!’
On who he will face in Saturday’s semi-final, he said: ‘I don’t really care, I’ll just let them fight it out amongst themselves. I’ll go and have a kebab on the way home.’
Wilson was impressive in beating Luca Brecel earlier in the day to set up the clash with Williams but has been strugglind with illness and felt that it caught up with him.
‘I didn’t really feel like I played that well, I was just hanging on and felt like Mark was the better player today,’ he said. ‘I just made far too many unforced errors, missed too many balls.
‘I felt like crap, to be honest, this week so I’m proud that I managed to make a game of it considering how I felt. Every credit to Mark Williams, he’s showed what a great champion he is.’
Williams joins Mark Allen in booking his spot in the semi-finals, with Allen facing one of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Xiao Guodong, Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy in the final four.
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