Mark Williams admits his frantic last-minute scramble to compete at the elite eight-player Hong Kong Masters event on Friday was doomed to failure. The three-time world champion made the 13-hour flight from London on Thursday to face Neil Robertson with UK holder Zhao Xintong forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. Ad Despite opening with a 133 break against Masters champion Robertson at the 12,500-capacity Hong Kong Coliseum, Williams came up short as the Australian icon showed his class to emerge a 5-3 winner from a taut quarter-final encounter.