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Figure after player's nation denotes 2001-02 World Snooker Ranking
REPORT
"It's been an amazing turn-around in the last two weeks," a delighted Williams said after becoming the first player to win the Thailand Masters on three occasions after victories also in 1999 and 2000. "I was really struggling at the beginning of the season but I'm playing some good stuff now. "I was forgetting how it feels to win but I've put that right. Winning in China was a big relief because I had lost in a few finals and that was at the back of my mind." It was Williams' first session performance that laid the foundations for his 12th ranking title success as he won six of the eight scheduled frames, but Lee's disappointing display could be largely subjected to the fact that a couple of hours before the start of the match the tip came off his cue and a new one had to be attached. The open frame was a little scrappy with the majority of reds gathering in the baulk end of the table, but Williams managed to take it. A 1-0 scoreline in Williams' favor quickly became 3-0 as the Welshman fired in breaks of 78 and 64 in the next two frames respectively without any reply from Lee. The 27-year-old from Trowbridge in England finally got off the mark in the next frame as he was presented a chance on the last red after Williams failed to escape from a snooker. He pocketed the red along with a baulk cushion and he cleared to the pink to take the score to 3-1 going into the mid-session interval. Lee made it 3-2 after the mid-session interval helped by a break of 69, but Williams restored the two-frame advantage in the next after both players missed chances but he capitalized when Lee left the last red over a baulk corner pocket in escaping from a snooker. The seventh frame went to Williams too after he got in first with a break of of 36 to win it 67 points to 5, and he took the final frame of the session despite missing a pink into a center pocket on a break of 52 as Lee could not take his chance to clear up Trailing 6-2 coming into the second session Lee had it all to do, and he missed a long red at the start of the ninth frame and let the 2000 Embassy World Champion in for a break of 43. He was then very fortunate later on in the frame when he fluked a red to enable him to take the frame and open up a crucial five-frame lead at 7-2. The Englishman was struggling and this fact was highlighted in the tenth frame when on a break of 37 he over-cut a red and Williams pounced on the opportunity to compile a break of 90 to six frames up with seven to play. It had looked as though a very comprehensive 9-2 victory was on the cards as Williams got in in the next frame but missed a pink into a center pocket, and Lee cleared to the final pink with a break of 50. The world number 8 was now playing for pride and he managed to win a scrappy twelfth frame, but any hopes of a miraculous comeback were put to rest as Williams compiled a break of 42 and Lee conceded as he failed to get the two snookers he needed on the final colored balls. "Most of the finals I have won have been very close but today it was pretty comfortable," Williams remarked about his victory. "Stephen's tip came off before the match which was very unlucky for him. "All of the players know how difficult it is to play a match with a new tip – especially in a final on the match table. "I enjoy playing in Thailand – probably because I keep winning here! The cue gets a bit sticky but the tables play very well and that's all you can ask for. "I said before China that to win a tournament this season would be a bonus. I just wanted to get my game right before the World Championship – that was the one I was gearing myself up for. "But having won these two tournaments, I will be going to Sheffield with a lot more confidence and I'm really looking forward to it." Successive victories at the China Open and Thailand Masters means that Williams has Ronnie O’Sullivan's lead at the head of the world rankings to only 2,764 points with two ranking events remaining this season before the list is officially revised after the Embassy World Championship in May.
He just made too many unforced errors and was clearly struggling with the new tip on his snooker cue, which any player will tell you takes a long while to get used to before you feel comfortable playing with it. "It came off after three or four shots in practice this morning," he said. "I only had half an hour to get used to the new one and I was struggling to pot easy balls throughout the match – especially when trying to put side (english) on the cue-ball. It was at the back of my mind all the time. "But it's just one of those things. I had some good fortune in getting to the final and this was a bit of bad luck – these things tend to even themselves out. "Mark is full of confidence and I couldn't have had a tougher opponent today. I needed a good start to put some pressure on him but I wasn't able to do that."
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A 17-month title drought
It is the third ranking