Filed under: Other Sports, Snooker
It is hardly over-egging the point to say it's a minor miracle Mark Williams has made it through to his UK Championship semi-final encounter with Shaun Murphy. That's not to be unkind to the popular double World Champion, because he's the first to admit he's baffled as to how he has progressed so far.
When you reach the last four of a major tournament and your highest break is still a relatively modest 82, you know you've had to grind out a few results to keep your head above water.
That was just the case as the Welshman overcame world number 60 Mark Joyce 9-7 in a quarter-final tussle which was not so much a snooker match, more a war of attrition.
"It's been a struggle and my long game is non-existent," reflected the 35-year-old, who can never be accused of attempting to gild the lily. He added: "I've been dreadful in all three matches here so I'm baffled to still be in the tournament."
Joyce at least had the consolation of hitting a career-high 143 to put him in line for the £5,000 tournament top break prize. Should he hang on to that mantle, his combined winnings from this event - in excess of £21,000 - will eclipse the amount he earned in the whole of last season, in addition to pushing his ranking up to a provisional 48.
Two-time UK Championship winner Williams's goals are slightly more modest when it comes to break-building, and he added: "I'm going spells of seven or eight frames without being able to make a 50 break, but I've never given up, no matter how badly I'm playing. I just dig in."
Williams tackles Murphy for the right to face either John Higgins or Northern Ireland's Mark Allen, who play on Friday, for the £100,000 first prize up for grabs in snooker's second highest ranking event.
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