Mark Williams wins one of the greatest comebacks of his 34-year career as he beats Murphy to reach English Open final

MARK WILLIAMS secured arguably the greatest comeback of his career to reach the final of the English Open. The Welshman, 51, was behind 4-0 and then 5-1 to Shaun Murphy before mounting a stunning comeback to win 6-5. Mark Williams has reached the final of the English Open after a stunning comeback Credit: Getty Williams, who has the chance to beat his own record as the oldest winner of a ranking event, will face Ali Carter in Sunday’s final. After the monumental win, the snooker legend told TNT Sports: “I’ve got out jail there I think. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! “I was 4-0 down and he was by far the better player. But, I just stuck in there. “The two clearances I’ve done were good. I think I was 60-odd behind to get to 5-5. I made an excellent break in the last. “I felt so calm in the last, no pressure at all, until I got to 69 and I had a red and my arm just went! I missed it by about three inches!” He added: “Even at 4-0, I was getting ready to watch the Conor Benn fight on my drive home! “I was timing it, thinking ‘they’re walking out at 3.30, but that time I’ll be on the M4’. “But I never give up. I was missing a lot, 4-0, 5-1, 5-2, but I never give up. Most read in Sport SUN VEGAS WELCOME OFFER: GET UP TO £100 BONUS List of all-time Snooker World Champions BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year. The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport. The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport. Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period. Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each. 1969 – John Spencer 1970 – Ray Reardon 1971 – John Spencer 1972 – Alex Higgins 1973 – Ray Reardon (2) 1974 – Ray Reardon (3) 1975 – Ray Reardon (4) 1976 – Ray Reardon (5) 1977 – John Spencer (2) 1978 – Ray Reardon (6) 1979 – Terry Griffiths 1980 – Cliff Thorburn 1981 – Steve Davis 1982 – Alex Higgins (2) 1983 – Steve Davis (2) 1984 – Steve Davis (3) 1985 – Dennis Taylor 1986 – Joe Johnson 1987 – Steve Davis (4) 1988 – Steve Davis (5) 1989 – Steve Davis (6) 1990 – Stephen Hendry 1991 – John Parrott 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2) 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3) 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4) 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5) 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6) 1997 – Ken Doherty 1998 – John Higgins 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7) 2000 – Mark Williams 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan 2002 – Peter Ebdon 2003 – Mark Williams (2) 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2) 2005 – Shaun Murphy 2006 – Graeme Dott 2007 – John Higgins (2) 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3) 2009 – John Higgins (3) 2010 – Neil Robertson 2011 – John Higgins (4) 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4) 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5) 2014 – Mark Selby 2015 – Stuart Bingham 2016 – Mark Selby (2) 2017 – Mark Selby (3) 2018 – Mark Williams (3) 2019 – Judd Trump 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6) 2021 – Mark Selby (4) 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7) 2023 – Luca Brecel 2024 – Kyren Wilson 2025 – Zhao Xintong 2026 – Wu Yize Most World Titles (modern era) 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams 2 – Alex Higgins “1 in 1000 matches you turn it around from 4-0. That was my 1 in 1,000.” After being told he was the oldest finalist in 40 years, Williams joked: “Stop saying that – every time I get to a final, you say I’m the oldest! “I’m over the moon. I managed to win a tournament last year. I’m in the final of this one. I’ve got a chance to win it. “I’ve got out of jail a couple of times this week. I’m just going to go for it, enjoy it, and hopefully play like the way I finished off there.” Losing semi-finalist Murphy said: “It is a tough defeat to take. I’m disappointed of course.” Speaking about his cue tip, Murphy said it “has got to go”, and added: “To get as far as I’ve got, to do as well as I’ve done this week, handicapped so badly… this has got to come off. “Handicapped by that, I’ve done really well. I’m almost relieved because I can go home, take this off and see the back of it. “We do throw the word ‘legend’ around a bit easy these days, but [Williams] is a true legend. That’s why he’s won.” More Follows… Comment now