Mark Williams ‘over the moon’ to win Champion of Champions title in Bolton

Mark Williams held off a spirited fightback from China’s Xiao Guodong to win the Champion of Champions title in Bolton.

Williams raced into a 5-0 lead but admitted the interval came to his rescue after Xiao, whose highest break in the first five frames was just 15, won four frames in a row.

Breaks of 104, 62, 80, 95 and 67 in the evening session gave Williams a 10-6 victory and left the 49-year-old Welshman almost at a loss for words.

Outplayed

“I can’t believe it,” Williams told ITV. “I’m stood here just about to pick that trophy up and I don’t know how I’m doing it really, but I’m sticking in there.

“I didn’t really do much wrong for him to come back to 5-4, he just outplayed me for four frames, but the interval came at the perfect time for me because if it carried on, he was probably going to run away with it.

“The interval came at a good time for me and I carried on tonight. I’m lost for words really. I’m over the moon.

“I knew I was hitting the ball well. Me and Lee Walker, my coach, have been practising at venues really hard, working on a couple of things and we both knew if I can take that into the match table then I can win anything.”