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.

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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.

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“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.”