World Snooker Championship 2020: Williams and Selby progress at the Crucible
- Published
Williams won the world title in 2000, 2003 and 2018
Betfred World Championship |
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Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 31 July-16 August |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four and Red Button, with uninterrupted coverage on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app. Full details and times. |
Three-time champions Mark Williams and Mark Selby have booked their places in the World Championship quarter-finals.
Wales' Williams, 45, produced a superb performance as he beat Stuart Bingham 13-11 in a high-quality contest.
England's Selby came through a thrilling final-frame decider to beat Noppon Saengkham 13-12.
Williams will face Ronnie O'Sullivan or Ding Junhui in the last eight, while Selby will play Barry Hawkins or Neil Robertson next.
Former world champions Williams and Bingham started their final session tied at 8-8 and initially traded frames.
But Williams edged ahead to lead 12-11 and sealed victory over the 2015 champion with a break of 75 in the next frame.
"It's the best I've felt towards the end," said Williams. "When the pressure was really on I started to come into my own. You can question some parts of my game if you want but you can never question my bottle."
Selby, who won the last of his three world titles in 2017, was put under severe pressure during his second-round match with Saengkham.
Resuming at 8-8, the Thai qualifier got the better of some gruelling opening exchanges and won a 48-minute frame to edge into a 10-9 lead.
Selby then raced into a 12-10 lead before Saengkham superbly fought back, levelling the match at 12-12 with a break of 90.
However, a careless safety shot after twice running out of position allowed Selby to seal victory with a brilliant break of 124.
"It's relief more than anything," said Selby. "Everything I threw at him he came back at me and it was the same with me coming back at him. It was a great game - it was a shame there had to be a loser.
"If I play like that I will take some beating. My game is in good shape and I am confident."
Mark Selby beats Noppon Saengkham with century break in deciding frame
'I can miss the easiest pot you've ever seen'
Williams admitted he was making more errors as age affects his eye-sight and concentration.
"At my age I can pot anything on the table but can also miss anything," he said. "I can miss the easiest pot you've ever seen, that's just more frequent in my game now.
"I know I'm going to miss pots but I've just got to forget about it and get on with the next frame.
"I am 45 going on 46 and I know I am not going to get any better, my form will gradually decline and I will miss easier balls than I would have before. It is frustrating but it's something I've accepted."
Analysis
Six-time world champion Steve Davis: "Mark Williams has a spring in his step. He's taking an objective view of his game and enjoying the challenge age brings. He's a total warrior, one of the greatest match-players we've ever seen. He tries so hard and it means so much to him.
"His attitude to accept what's happening to him is very important - some players can drive themselves mad looking for technical reasons why they're missing pots but that's not the issue when you get older."
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