'That will hurt again' – Stephen Hendry on why Mark Williams will be haunted by second brutal defeat of year

Mark Williams will suffer nightmares for the second time in successive months following his crushing 6-5 defeat to Ricky Walden in the Players Championship quarter-finals, according to seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry. Hendry looked on in disbelief as Williams made three centuries to lead 4-1 and 5-2 before suffering an astonishing collapse in allowing his opponent to stage an unlikely recovery to deny the Welshman in the death throes of a wildly undulating contest. Ad/> It brought back haunting memories of the 6-5 defeat he suffered to Neil Robertson in the semi-finals of the Masters last month.

Williams had led 5-3 before Robertson chased down two snookers in the final frame after Williams saw a pink stick in the jaws having made 67. Players ChampionshipDramatic Walden comeback stuns Williams to book semi-final place12 HOURS AGO He somehow got them before winning on the black to complete a miraculous escape at London's Alexandra Palace on his way to lifting the elite invitational title. Players Championship 2022 — Latest results, scores, schedule 'Should change my name from the Rocket to the Tinkerer' — O'Sullivan A similar scenario played out in Wolverhampton.

Williams looked in complete control on a sluggish table as breaks of 103, 107 and 102 saw him move 4-1 to the good, but remarkably failed to make a break over 30 in the closing six frames of the evening despite edging a taut seventh frame to move 5-2 ahead. «He'll be really disappointed. I said at the interval, Ricky needed to be more aggressive and he was,» said Hendry.

«We mentioned the 5-3 lead against Robertson at the Masters, he lost that match, and now this one again after missing an easy shot. »Every credit to Ricky. It is amazing how we say one