Mark Williams produced his second impressive Masters performance last night with a 6-4 win over Shaun Murphy to advance to the semi-finals.

The left-handed Welshman looked confident and assured throughout – despite the minor car crash which left him with whiplash on Monday night – and will now play Ronnie O’Sullivan on Saturday afternoon for a place in the final.

It’s the first time Williams has progressed to the Masters semi-finals since he won the event seven years ago – based on his last two convincing performances, this could well prove a good omen.

Displaying some of the vintage snooker which has allowed him to win this tournament on two previous occasions, Williams sunk numerous long pots and racked up several big breaks during the match, and is now eagerly-anticipating his semi-final clash against the Rocket.

“I’m going to be playing the best player in the world in the second biggest tournament, I’m over the moon. We both played well and it was a good game,” the 34-year-old said.

“The big arenas, the best players, it’s what we play for. I know what I’m capable of and looking forward to a good game.”

Williams lost the opening frame as his opponent looked the better player in the opening stages of the match. However, the Welshman recovered with a break of 76 in the second frame to level proceedings.

He then went 2-1 up after two breaks of 53 and 56; and in the third, yet another fifty from the two-time world champion put added daylight between the two competitors.

Another high break, 62 this time, earned Williams his fourth consecutive frame and a seemingly unassailable 4-1 lead.

But the only three figure break of the match came from Murphy in the sixth frame. A 100-0 scoreline offered the 2005 world champion a glimpse of hope, but this began to fade almost immediately as Williams hit back with a total of 68 to take a tense seventh frame.

5-2 and now with victory in sight, Murphy so nearly achieved the unthinkable as he pulled the next two frames back in emphatic fashion.

The high-quality match was drawing to a close, though, and Williams survived an incredibly nervy final frame to book his place in the first of Saturday’s two semi-finals.

Rob Swan