Mark Williams has become the oldest ranking event winner in snooker history thanks to his 10-3 victory over Shaun Murphy in Monday’s Xi’an Grand Prix final.
The Welshman has landed the title in China at 50 years and 206 days, breaking the previous record set by his compatriot Ray Reardon when he won the 1982 Professional Players Tournament at 50 years and 14 days.
The three-time world champion was in fantastic form in the final, racing into a 4-0 lead thanks to breaks of 75, 73, 56 and 68.
Murphy got a frame on the board in the fifth, but Williams then reeled off four more frames to surge into an 8-1 lead.
The Magician managed to win back-to-back frames in the 10th and 11th, but Williams put any epic comeback out of the question with breaks of 65 and 61 to secure a comfortable victory.
The veteran lands the £177,000 top prize and becomes the first player to win a professional tournament in every decade from his teens to his 50s.
Ahead of the final, Williams suggested he might not hold onto the record as the oldest winner for long, with Ronnie O’Sullivan and John Higgins also still going very strong, although both are a little younger than the Welshman.
‘I suppose if I take that record as the oldest winner, Ronnie or John Higgins will beat it in a few months time,’ he said after beating Daniel Wells in the semi-final.
‘It’s just nice to be in a final, and to win a tournament would be great. At the start of this week if you had offered me the quarter-finals I would have bitten your hand off, so for the final I would have bitten your whole body off.’
The Xi’an Grand Prix is Williams’ 27th ranking title, which puts him sixth on the all-time list behind Ronnie O’Sullivan (41), Stephen Hendry (36), John Higgins (33), Judd Trump (30) and Steve Davis (28).
Williams had been talking down his chances in the final after beating Wells 6-3 in the semis.
‘I might have looked calm but you wouldn’t want to know the names I was calling myself in my head. I struggled all match, I just stuck in there,’ he said.
‘Honestly, I don’t know how I am in the final. Can I do it once more? Probably not, I would have to play a lot better otherwise I’ll get trampled on. I will try my best.
‘I have played some unbelievable matches this season and lost 5-4 or 5-3. In this tournament I haven’t looked like making breaks but I’m in the final. I’ll take winning like this over playing out of my skin and losing.’
More to follow…