Mark Williams knocks out his nemesis Ronnie O’Sullivan in Masters thriller

Mark Williams ended an eight-year wait for victory over Ronnie O’Sullivan by storming back from a three-frame deficit to win 6-5 and reach the semi-finals of the Masters.

Williams’s hopes of beating the seven-time Masters champion seemed distant as O’Sullivan surged into a 3-0 lead at Alexandra Palace.

However, the Welshman – who clawed his way back into the contest with a tournament-best break of 143 – won three successive frames to lead 5-4 and then held his nerve with another century in the decider to seal a semi-final spot against Hossein Vafaei or Jack Lisowski.

“The first three frames I didn’t have a shot,” Williams told the BBC after ending a run of six successive defeats to O’Sullivan, a run stretching back to the 2014 International Championship in China.

“He tied me up in knots, he was making breaks galore. But I felt the crowd started to sway towards me at the end and most of them wanted me to win, which was unbelievable.”

Asked if it was his most satisfying win in recent seasons, the 47-year-old three-time world champion said: “Yeah, you’re playing the greatest player ever … and I don’t think I’ve beaten him in the UK for 20 years. That’s gone now. If I don’t beat him for another 20 years I couldn’t care.”

O’Sullivan, the world No 1 and second seed, seized early control with a break of 115 after Williams had failed to find an escape route when being tight to the green. The second frame was a completely different affair, full of tactical safety play and lasting 36 minutes. O’Sullivan held the upper hand throughout and a clearance of 44 doubled his advantage.

Williams was punished again when he missed a risky red with the rest and O’Sullivan compiled a frame-winning 79 break. The contest appeared to turn before