Mark Williams reaches his first Champion of Champions final

Mark Williams is through to his first Champion of Champions final after beating Neil Robertson 6-2 in Bolton.

The three-time world champion swept aside his Australian opponent in their semi-final clash to book a meeting with China’s Xiao Guodong in Sunday’s showpiece match.

Robertson, a two-time winner of the event, had a break of 50 in the opening frame but soon found himself 4-0 down at the mid-session interval.

Re-rack

Williams took the second frame – which included a re-rack after 25 minutes of safety play – thanks to a run of 66 before then fluking the final red while getting out of a snooker and clearing the colours to move 3-0 ahead.

Robertson got on the board after the mid-session interval with a break of 78 but Williams responded with an emphatic clearance of 132 to move one frame away from victory.

He was forced to wait as a break of 68 saw Robertson extend the game, but Williams comfortably won the eighth frame to progress.