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 their first final defeat in two years in the Tour Championship in Manchester.

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

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

Williams tied 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 couldn’t find a way to stop the momentum, despite errors from both players. in what turned out to be the one who decides.

After his surprise victory, Williams said: “Not bad for a part-timer.” What can I say? I never thought he would win tournaments at 49 years old, so who knows? The World Championship is just around the corner. He is the man to beat, but you never know. I will try to give my best.

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

“This is at the top of my career. As Ronnie said, I think I’m a better player in every aspect now. Considering I don’t practice much. But I always try my absolute crazy stuff.

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

‘It’s nice to have family here. A son always comes with me. Two of my children only come to take care of Ronnie.

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

The three-time world snooker champion has three sons: 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 to the professional ranks in 1992, is the second-oldest winner of a ranking title.

Meanwhile, O’Sullivan admitted Williams has been “the most consistent player over the last five years.”

O’Sullivan claimed 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 bad game and the way he played this week and tonight, he’s an incredible player. He’s very talented and I think now It’s better than ever.

‘I tried to give it my all. I did it this afternoon to stay in the match, but he is so consistent, so strong, that if you don’t play consistently high-level pool, he will eat you alive.’

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