Mark Williams avoided the Wasps attack to defeat David Gilbert 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace.
The 47-year-old Welshman showed off some unexpected dance moves as he tried to avoid the attention of the lumbering bug and finish off the victory.
Referee Marcel Eckardt briefly suspended frame eight as he tried in vain to clear the offender, and Williams joked afterwards: “I thought I was going to hurt my balls at some point.”
Williams, who won the first of his two Masters titles in 1998, hit back-to-back breaks to start the game before putting him ahead by 95 points for a 3-0 lead.
The Welshman extended his lead, but Gilbert, who had secured his place in the top 16 after Yan Bingtao was suspended, bounced back after the mid-session break, winning two consecutive frames to cut the deficit to two.
Gilbert missed some golden chances the next over, allowing Williams to reassert control at 5-2, before Williams hit the eighth frame when he rebounded from a 63-point deficit.
“It’s incredible how I’m still playing at the top of the game and enjoying every minute of it,” admitted Williams, who will face Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals.
Earlier, the star of the season, 2018 Masters winner Mark Allen, suffered a shock 6-0 defeat against Barry Hawkins.
Hawkins, who will face Judd Trump or Ryan Day in the quarter-finals, told the BBC: “I think the result seduces me a little bit. I think my security really won the match. I played very safe and created chances that way.
“I think if I had been so critical I could have scored a little bit better, but I kept Mark under pressure and didn’t make too many mistakes – very few unforced errors – and I think that made the difference in the end.”
Hawkins rallied from a 55–0 first frame deficit to win colours, with breaks of 76 and 114 to extend their lead.
Allen looked set to join the scoreboard in a turbulent fourth frame, only to edge Brown out and drop him into the corner pocket, Hawkins going one step further before leading 5–0 with breaks of 45 and 41.
After trailing 6-1 to beat Ding Junhui 10-7 in the final of the UK Championship in November, there was still a glimmer of hope for Allen, but the Northern Irishman was unable to repeat such championships and Hawkins sealed the win. .
“For the first time I didn’t have much time (at Christmas), I had a few days off here and there, but I kept going at the club because I knew this tournament was coming and this isn’t a place you want to be. Come here and be unprepared”, he added. Hawkins.
“I thought I would keep my head down and today it paid off.”
A disappointed Allen was quick to pay tribute to Hawkins, telling Eurosport: “I probably should have won frame one and had some chances in frame four, other than that I thought he was exceptional.
“Some of his safe plays were ridiculously good. Several times I came to the table and scratched my head in succession, never really got a chance.”
“I told him at the end, he’s probably one of the best safety’s I’ve played against as a pro. Granted, I missed some balls too, but you just have to give credit to Barry, he just blocked me. It was an exceptional performance.”
Mark Williams avoided the Wasps attack to defeat David Gilbert 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace.
The 47-year-old Welshman showed off some unexpected dance moves as he tried to avoid the attention of the lumbering bug and finish off the victory.
Referee Marcel Eckardt briefly suspended frame eight as he tried in vain to clear the offender, and Williams joked afterwards: “I thought I was going to hurt my balls at some point.”
Williams, who won the first of his two Masters titles in 1998, hit back-to-back breaks to start the game before putting him ahead by 95 points for a 3-0 lead.
The Welshman extended his lead, but Gilbert, who had secured his place in the top 16 after Yan Bingtao was suspended, bounced back after the mid-session break, winning two consecutive frames to cut the deficit to two.
Gilbert missed some golden chances the next over, allowing Williams to reassert control at 5-2, before Williams hit the eighth frame when he rebounded from a 63-point deficit.
“It’s incredible how I’m still playing at the top of the game and enjoying every minute of it,” admitted Williams, who will face Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarter-finals.
Earlier, the star of the season, 2018 Masters winner Mark Allen, suffered a shock 6-0 defeat against Barry Hawkins.
Hawkins, who will face Judd Trump or Ryan Day in the quarter-finals, told the BBC: “I think the result seduces me a little bit. I think my security really won the match. I played very safe and created chances that way.
“I think if I had been so critical I could have scored a little bit better, but I kept Mark under pressure and didn’t make too many mistakes – very few unforced errors – and I think that made the difference in the end.”
Hawkins rallied from a 55–0 first frame deficit to win colours, with breaks of 76 and 114 to extend their lead.
Allen looked set to join the scoreboard in a turbulent fourth frame, only to edge Brown out and drop him into the corner pocket, Hawkins going one step further before leading 5–0 with breaks of 45 and 41.
After trailing 6-1 to beat Ding Junhui 10-7 in the final of the UK Championship in November, there was still a glimmer of hope for Allen, but the Northern Irishman was unable to repeat such championships and Hawkins sealed the win. .
“For the first time I didn’t have much time (at Christmas), I had a few days off here and there, but I kept going at the club because I knew this tournament was coming and this isn’t a place you want to be. Come here and be unprepared”, he added. Hawkins.
“I thought I would keep my head down and today it paid off.”
A disappointed Allen was quick to pay tribute to Hawkins, telling Eurosport: “I probably should have won frame one and had some chances in frame four, other than that I thought he was exceptional.
“Some of his safe plays were ridiculously good. Several times I came to the table and scratched my head in succession, never really got a chance.”
“I told him at the end, he’s probably one of the best safety’s I’ve played against as a pro. Granted, I missed some balls too, but you just have to give credit to Barry, he just blocked me. It was an exceptional performance.”
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