Mark Williams storms back to reach British Open quarter-finals
- Planet Sport writer
- 29 September 2023
Mark Williams will face China’s Fan Zhengyi in the quarter-finals of the British Open after beating Ding Junhui 4-2 in Cheltenham.
Three-time world champion Williams, winner of this title for a second time in 2021, lost the first two frames against China’s Ding, who posted a break of 123 in the second.
The Welshman subsequently stormed back with four in a row to secure progress, clinching victory with a break of 99.
Williams will next face China’s Fan Zhengyi, who defeated compatriot Ma Hailong 4-1 with breaks of 81, 71 and 54.
Tom Ford meets Xiao Guodong after they beat Scott Donaldson 4-1 and Ali Carter 4-2 respectively.
In Thursday’s late matches, Iran’s Hossein Vafaei made two century breaks as he progressed with a 4-2 win over Graeme Dott.
Barry Hawkins, who had seen off world number eight Kyren Wilson in the last round, narrowly went down 4-3 to China’s He Guoqiang.
Jack Lisowski and four-time world champion Mark Selby earned victories over Fergal O’Brien and David Gilbert respectively.
