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 handing the Rocket his first final defeat in two years at the Tour Championship in Manchester.

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

However, when the players returned in the evening, Williams hit his stride and took seven straight frames, as O’Sullivan struggled to find any sort of rhythm. 

Williams levelled the match at 5-5 with a break of 104, then made consecutive breaks of 99 and 112 to go 8-5 up and O’Sullivan could not find a way to halt the momentum, despite mistakes from both players in what proved to be the decider. 

After his shock victory, 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 around the corner. He’s the man to beat, but you never know. I’ll try my best.

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

‘This is up there in my career. As Ronnie said, I think I am a better all-round player now. Considering I don’t practice that much. But I always try my absolute nuts.

‘I have beaten the best three players in the world. I haven’t done it the easy way.

‘It’s nice to have family up here. One son always comes with me. Two of my sons only come up to watch Ronnie.’

Williams beat 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 into the pro ranks in 1992, is the second-oldest winner of a ranking title.

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

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

He said: ‘I think he’s been the best player, the most consistent player, over the last five years. He rarely plays a poor match and the way he’s played this week and tonight, he’s an amazing player. He’s so talented and I think he’s better now than he’s ever been.

‘I tried to give it everything. I did it this afternoon to stay in the match but he’s so consistent, so strong, if you don’t consistently play top-level snooker he’ll eat you alive.’

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