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Figure after player's nation denotes 2001-02 World Snooker Ranking
REPORT
"It was another final I thought I'd lose," Williams said. "I was playing alright in tournaments but when I got through to finals I was freezing up. "At 8-5 down I just tried my best and managed to claw it back. Luckily, Anthony was under a bit of pressure because it would have been his first ranking title." It was Hamilton however that played the better snooker in the first session. The world number 19 from Nottingham in England, who now lives in north London, took the first frame with a superb break of 60 despite the majority of reds gathered in the baulk area of the table. Williams retaliated in the next though when he capitalized on a missed blue by Hamilton, running in a break of 68 to level the match. The breaks continued in the third frame as a long red set up a frame clinching break of 69 for Hamilton, but the fourth frame went down to the final colors in which Williams won after Hamilton had snookered himself on the green after fluking the yellow. They went into the mid-session interval all-square at 2-2, but it was Hamilton who took the early initiative once they returned by compiling a break of 40 after the 2000 Embassy World Champion from Cwm in Wales missed a red only to leave it over a baulk corner pocket. A break of 106 from Hamilton in the next frame, his fourth century break of the tournament, gave the 30-year-old Englishman a two-frame lead for the first time but Williams pinned it back to one when he run in a break of 73 in the eighth frame. Hamilton, appearing in only the second ranking event final of his 11-year professional career, must have felt confident for the rest of the final as he won the last frame of the first session when he pocketed a superb pink to move the the last away from the black on the top cushion. He duly cleared the table to hold a 5-3 lead going into the second session's play. Williams had led 2-1 in the previous three meetings between these two players. Hamilton's only victory came on his way to the final of the 1999 British Open, his only one previous appearance in a ranking event final, where he lost 9-7 to Ireland's Fergal O’Brien. A second victory for Hamilton over Williams looked very likely when he stretched his lead to 6-3 at the start of the second session with a break of 84, after the Welshman had missed a tough red with the rest. Unnerved by his predicament despite his losing streak record in finals, Williams got back into the match by taking the two following frames with breaks of 93 and 46 respectively. Hamilton then went onto the brink of victory as breaks of 93, 30 and 41 took the world number 19 to an 8-5 lead, but an all-out attempt on a risky long red in frame fourteen rattled in a baulk packet jaw and Williams took the frame witha break of 40. The next frame was a little scrappy with some errors from both players, but it was Williams who reduced his arrears to 8-7 after he took it by potting the third-last red to put the pressure on Hamilton going for his first ranking event. The tournament would be decided on a final frame shoot-out as Williams won his third frame in a row with a break of 107 after Hamilton missed a tough red. Hamilton got the first chance in the last frame but broke down on 24. A missed red into the center pocket by Williams presented Hamilton with another superb opportunity, but the nervous tension was evidant in the Englishman and he let another chance go when he missed a simple red to the corner when holding a 40-22 lead. An ice-cool Williams then clinically secured the title with a superb break of 63 to stage a remarkable comeback and pocket the winner's check for around $87,500. Williams was truly delighted with his victory and relieved that he had finally won a title. "It's definitely lifted a burden off my back," said the 2002 China Open champion. I had been freezing up in finals and I was twitching a bit in this one but I never gave up. "When I went 8-5 down it looked like I was going to lose another one. But I knew Anthony was under pressure because he has never won a title before and I thought if I could get back to 8-7 it would make it hard for him to get over the line. "He will be sick because he'll feel he should have won it. I lost 10-9 in the final of the Masters last month after leading 5-0 so I know how he feels. "We both had two good chances in the last frame and I was lucky that he messed up. The last red was tough but I knew it was match-ball so I went for it full-blooded and it went in. "His safety was good throughout and he controlled the match in going 8-5 up. The last was a bit scrappy and it could have gone either way. I was shaking like a leaf but I managed to pot the balls I needed. "I've played well in the last few tournaments so hopefully I can keep that going and play a bit more fluently next time I get to a final." Williams now has to quickly dash to Bangkok in Thailand now for the Thailand Masters, and he commented: "It will be tough going straight from here to the Thailand Masters as it would be nice to have some time off, although when you are on a winning streak you want to keep playing. "Whatever happens over there, I can't grumble as I'll still be on a high after winning here." This event provided an extraordinary turnaround in the snooker fortunes of Hamilton, whose career had been going downhill having won just two matches in previous ranking tournaments this season and had slipped to 28 in the latest provisional world ranking list from a career high of 10.
"At 8-5 I felt fine and he played very well to get back to 8-7. Then in the last two frames I just couldn't let go of the cue. It takes a lot of bottle to win a tournament and perhaps I wanted it too much. "I had two good chances in the last frame and you can't expect more than that but the cue-ball wasn't quite going where I wanted it to. "My hands tightened up and my cue action just didn't feel right. I was just trying to pot balls from memory. "The more times you get to finals the easier it is and obviously experience was the key for Mark as he kept his nerve when it mattered."
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Mark J. Williams was
Anthony Hamilton was