Sheffield (England), May 05: Welshman Mark Williams moved to within seven frames of the World Snooker Championship title yesterday when he opened up a 11-5 lead over Ken Doherty in the final. Williams, the third-seed and new world number one, dominated the first day's play at the crucible theatre as he set his set his sights on winning his second world title to add to the 2000 crown.
In the first session, the 28-year-old stormed into a 7-1 lead over the Irishman who must have been exhausted following his dramatic come-from-behind 17-16 semi-final win over Paul Hunter on Saturday. After returning for the later session, Williams piled up breaks of 118 and 101 to move to 10-2 as the 1999 champion struggled to make any impression on the man who became the first left-hander to win the world title when he beat countryman Matthew Stevens in the final three years ago.
Doherty then fought back, however, taking the next two frames to trail 4-10 overturning a 69 point deficit to secure the 14th frame advantage. But Williams, as cool as ever when confronted with a challenge, swept the 15th frame, winning 75-0 before Doherty clung on in the last frame of the day to win 60-51. Bureau Report