Mark Williams make Ronnie O’Sullivan admission after winning seven straight frames to hand the Rocket his first final loss in two years at the Tour Championship in Manchester

Mark Williams joked that two of his sons only came to see Ronnie O’Sullivan after he handed the Rocket his first final defeat for two years at the Tour Championship in Manchester.

O’Sullivan had recovered from 3-1 down to end the afternoon session with a 5-3 lead, having scored all four centuries in the match to that point.

However, when the players returned in the evening, Williams hit his stride and took seven frames in a row, while O’Sullivan struggled to find any rhythm.

Williams leveled the match at 5–5 with a break of 104, then made successive breaks of 99 and 112 to lead 8–5 and O’Sullivan couldn’t find a way to stop the momentum, despite errors from both players in what turned out to be the decision maker.

After his shock win, Williams said: “It’s not bad for a part-timer. What can I say? I never thought I’d be winning tournaments at 49, so who knows? The World Championships are just around the corner. He’s the man to beat, but you never know. I will do my best.

It is the first time in the last two years that O’Sullivan has tasted defeat in a final

‘This is one of the highlights of my career. As Ronnie said, I think I’m a better all-round player now. Since I don’t practice that much. But I always try my absolutes.

‘I beat the three best players in the world. I didn’t do it the easy way.

“It’s nice to have family here. One son always comes along. Two of my sons just come to see Ronnie.’

Williams defeated Judd Trump and Mark Allen before his victory over O’Sullivan.

The three-time world snooker champion has three children: Conor, Kian and Joel.

Williams and O’Sullivan’s combined age of 97 is the oldest for finalists in a World Snooker Tour event.

And the Welshman, who graduated as a professional in 1992, is the second-oldest winner of a ranking title.

O’Sullivan, meanwhile, admitted that Williams has been the ‘most consistent player of the last five years’.

O’Sullivan claimed that Williams has been the most consistent player over the past five years

He said: “I think he’s been the best player and the most consistent player over the last five years. He rarely has a bad game and the way he has played this week and tonight, he is a great player. He’s so talented and I think he’s better now than ever before.

‘I tried to give it my all. I did it this afternoon to stay in the game, but he is so consistent and so strong. If you don’t play snooker consistently at the highest level, it will eat you alive.’

It was O’Sullivan’s first defeat in a final since the European Masters against Fan Zhengyi in February 2022.