Mark Williams had to give it his all to beat rising Chinese star Wu Yize 10-8 to reach the last 16 of the World Snooker Championship for the 22nd time in his career.
Williams, who celebrated his 50th birthday last month, produced two near-flawless final frames to hold off his rival, who missed a golden opportunity to take a 9-7 lead when he missed a red in one of the frames.
The Welshman's win was particularly significant given his ongoing battle with deteriorating eyesight. Williams said his vision had “completely deteriorated” following his defeat to Ding Junhui at the Players' Championship in March, and he is understood to be considering surgery.
Wu, 21, one of the brave representatives of a new generation of Chinese snooker players, capitalised on Williams' mistakes after play resumed at 5-4 on Sunday and when he took the lead in the 15th frame the momentum seemed to have shifted in his favour.
However, his lapse of concentration in the 16th frame cost him dearly as Williams used all his guile to level the score and then superb breaks of 58 and 75 took him to the finishing line.
“Some of the balls he can hit are just unbelievable and he has a good chance of winning this tournament, no doubt,” Williams said of Wu after the match. “But I got stronger towards the end and if I can’t beat him on points or pots, I think I can outsmart him.”
Mark Allen also had to work hard to snatch a 5-4 victory against China's world number 46 Fan Zhengyi.
Qualifier Feng, who was beaten 10-5 by the Antrim native in the same round two years ago, started the match in superb style, winning the first three frames, including runs of 89 and 103, before the eighth seed found his game late on.
His hundred, followed by two more breaks over 50, allowed Allen to level the scores and after the pair shared two frames, Allen took the lead to overcome a difficult ninth innings and give himself a small lead over their
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
