Home favourite Mark Williams insists his game is in a good place after he progressed to the second round of the Welsh Open on Tuesday night. The 42-year-old has enjoyed himself on the professional circuit this season after already winning the Northern Ireland Open and German Masters. Williams made a fast start to his first-round clash against Mark King and he raced into a 3-0 lead thanks to breaks of 134 and 129.
King’s break of 104 gave him confidence and he fought back to 3-2 but Williams claimed the victory in the end at the Motorpoint Arena. He will now take on India’s Aditya Mehta in the second round but the world No.6 insists he can go all the way. “I played well, it’s good to keep my form going,” he told BBC Wales. “I have barely lost in the first round all season. I never thought I would have won two ranking events this season, and if I could get a third here that would be brilliant.” Williams is priced at 21/10 to win 4-0 while he is priced at 7/10 to win on a -2.5 handicap. Scot John Higgins is also through to the second round after beating Matthew Selt and he will now take on fellow countryman Stephen Maguire.
Maguire is 6/4 to win, with the draw 4/9, while Mark Selby is also well fancied to overcome Liang Wenbo at odds of 2/5. Rory McLeod and Kyren Wilson will face off in the evening session, in the first of two all-English clashes as Tom Ford looks to beat Barry Hawkins.