By Elliott West
“Probably the best atmosphere I’ve played in!”.
Mark Williams
Introduction
This year’s Masters has produced a number of matches, determined on deciding frames. The latest instalment and definitely the memorable has to be the meeting between two of the greatest players of the Class of 92, John Higgins and Mark Williams. This was a clash that was oozing with respect and the audience gave them a standing ovation when they walked out into the arena before the match at the Alexandra Palace. A walk on that was accompanied by broad smiles and a spring in both players’ steps. This was a special occasion that doesn’t happen very often in snooker and so was savoured like a fine wine.
“The crowd must have been cheering for a few minutes before we started off, I couldn’t feel my legs in the chair. That’s the best intro I’ve ever had, I think John will probably say the same”.
Mark Williams
The Meeting
This was a match where the rare delight of two friends of sharing a joke and a laugh could be witnessed whilst playing snooker of the highest standard. John Higgins was the first person to get out of the starting blocks, racing forward into a 2-0, opening with a break of 126 but Williams pulled back to make it 2-2 at the interval.
In some cases, an interval makes a difference but not in this match and it became a showdown where neither player could be separated. The scoreline went to 3-3 with Mark having won three frames in the bounce and at this stage, it was impossible to predict who would emerge the victor and progress to the final four of this prestigious tournament. The trend continued and it would go to the last frame to be decided.
It was a frame that was preceded by a standing ovation from the crowd and any decider is really won on the flip of a coin. The lucky player on this occasion was the Welshman with Williams getting into the balls and making a superb 91 break to win. Both players looked shell shocked but happy to have played in such a memorable match and frankly if Mark hadn’t held his nerve in the final frame, the match could have easily been won by his opponent.
Earlier on in the afternoon session, Neil Robertson had managed to overcome a resurgent Ronnie O’Sullivan, buoyant from his World Grand Prix victory just before Christmas. The Australian won consecutive frames to deny O’Sullivan a semi-final place, saying after his 6-4 victory:
“If you can’t get up for this kind of event, you should hand your place to somebody else.”
Neil Robertson
